From the Arkansas to the northern border of the United States the country was now fairly understood, the Columbia was no longer a mystery, Garces and other Spaniards had traversed Arizona, New Mexico had long been flourishing, the California Missions were quietly growing rich, and the unbroken Wilderness was narrowing approximately to the region between the thirty-sixth and the forty-second parallels and the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. Not that all outside of these bounds was well known, for it was far from it, but it could no longer be regarded as Wilderness absolute, while the area above outlined, except for the entrada of Escalante, was a blank. It was all the property of Spain, hence Americans had no right to enter, but when the War of 1812 was well disposed of hunters began again to pour into the Wilderness, and Long's expedition seemed to mark the beginning of another important attack upon the mountain fastnesses, where the beaver by thousands and tens of thousands were enjoying a busy life and holding forth unwittingly an alluring bait that was now to induce a great invasion of Spanish territory notwithstanding the challenge of the sentinel. Spain's hold, too, on her Mexican possessions was loosening. Iturbide in 1821 proclaimed Mexican independence, and the next year Santa Aña unfurled the flag of the Republic. For some time Mexico had her full attention occupied with internal affairs. [Illustration] FOOTNOTES: [80] Recently a manuscript diary of Robert Stuart's was discovered, and a typewritten copy of it has been added to the New York Public Library. [81] _Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains in 1819-20_, compiled by Edwin James from the notes of Major Long, Mr. Say, and other gentlemen of the party. [82] James took the place of Dr. Baldwin, who had become ill and remained behind at the village of Franklin, where he died on August 31, 1819. Dr. James came out in the spring of 1820 with Major Long. [83] Dr. Coues states in his _Pike's Journal_ that the proper name for this stream, as applied by Frémont, is _Fontaine qui Bouit_, but as it was named before Frémont's time from the celebrated "boiling" springs, Dr. Coues's statement is an error. [Illustration] CHAPTER XIII The Wilderness Breaker—Lisa Closes his Account—General Ashley Takes a Hand—The Religious Jedediah—Green River Valley—What a White Bear could Do—Ashley Navigates Red Canyon of Green River—Discovery of Salt Lake—Ashley Retires Rich—The Rocky Mountain Fur Company—Sylvester and James O. Pattie—Pattie's Journey in the Valley of the Colorado—The Great Circuit of Jedediah Smith.