'Tis the Best Place Yet America'

Jedediah and a group of men set out to find an old trail across the desert that goes from the spanish missions in california to here. They first come across pipe people who give them food, but they can't tell them much about going south. After 15 days on foot, their horses are dying because there's hardly any fresh water. Jedediah says he learned what it was to do withoutfood through this experience.