About January I, 1847, to lighten the load of the half-starved mules, a barge was made by placing two wagon bodies on dry cottonwood logs and on this 2500 pounds of provisions and corn were launched on the Gila River. The improvised boat found too many sandbars, and most of its cargo had to be jettisoned, lost in a time when rations had been reduced to a few ounces a day per man. January 9 the Colorado River was reached, and the command and its impedimenta were ferried over on the same raft contrivance that had proven ineffective on the Gila. Colonel Cooke, in his narrative concerning the practicability of the route he had taken, said: "Undoubtedly the fine bottomland of the Colorado, if not of the Gila, will soon be settled; then all difficulty will be removed." The Battalion had still more woe in its passage across the desert of Southern California, where wells often had to be dug for water and where rations were at a minimum, until Warner's ranch was reached, where each man was given five pounds of beef a day, constituting almost the sole article of subsistence. Tyler, the Battalion historian, insists that five pounds is really a small allowance for a healthy laboring man, because "when taken alone it is not nearly equal to mush and milk," and he referred to an issuance to each of Fremont's men of ten pounds per day of fat beef. Congratulation on Its Achievement At the Mission of San Diego, January 30, 1847, the proud Battalion Commander issued the following memorable order: "The Lieutenant-Colonel commanding congratulates the Battalion on their safe arrival on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and the conclusion of their march of over 2000 miles. "History may be searched in vain for an equal march of infantry. Half of it has been through a wilderness, where nothing but savages and wild beasts are found, or deserts where, for want of water, there is no living creature. There, with almost hopeless labor we have dug wells, which the future traveler will enjoy. Without a guide who had traversed them, we have ventured into trackless tablelands where water was not found for several marches. With crowbar and pick, and ax in hand, we worked our way over mountains, which seemed to defy aught save the wild goat, and hewed a pass through a chasm of living rock more narrow than our wagons. To bring these first wagons to the Pacific, we have preserved the strength of our mules by herding them over large tracts, which you have laboriously guarded without loss. The garrisons of four presidios of Sonora concentrated within the walls of Tucson, gave us no pause. We drove them out with our artillery, but our intercourse with the citizens was unmarked by a single act of injustice. Thus, marching, half-naked and half-fed, and living upon wild animals, we have discovered and made a road of great value to our country.