Educated in Baden,
we find him at the age of thirty a captain in the French army. Filled
with enthusiasm, energy, and love of adventure, his eyes turned toward
America as his "land of promise," and in July, 1834, he arrived in New
York. Again breaking away from the restraints of civilized life, he soon
made his way to the then almost unknown regions west of the Mississippi.
For some years he lived near St. Charles, in Missouri. At one time he
entertained the idea of establishing a Swiss colony at this point, and
was only prevented by the sinking of his vessel of supplies in the
Mississippi River. During this time he accompanied an exploring party
into the sultry, sand-covered wastes of New Mexico. Here he met hunters
and trappers from California, and listened to tales of its beauty,
fertility, and grandeur which awoke irresistible longings in his breast.
In March, 1838, with Captain Tripp, of the American Fur Company, he
traveled westward as far as the Rocky Mountains, and thence journeying
with a small party of trappers, finally reached Fort Vancouver. Finding
no land route to California, he embarked in a vessel belonging to the
Hudson Bay Company, which was ready for a voyage to the Sandwich
Islands. From Honolulu he thought there would be little difficulty in
finding passage in a trading vessel for the Coast of California.
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