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Show [ 243] 28 floating about the sky. 1 was pleased to find that o- ~oy~gcnrs the name of" I 4onrr's peak" had b d nmoln~ ~!le traders an~ hnr Ill the count 1 1 1"'l • • een a opte< anu becorne fo1m1- rnnde its first a.p~~:n·m'~~ lc ~~~~n~s near J~liS plnce, a light brown sand tone back n mile or tw~ alhead Oil ' w~. ts~crned sever~ll per ·ons on horsein towards the river and \~~· thf ~pposttc stde of the nver. They turnrd be two wh. ' TO( e own to meet them. We fon nd them to Louis wlletrtle "mbell, andl a mulatt~ named Jim Beckwith, who had left t . n ny, ntH crone to ltvc w'tl tl 'C· 1 d' . tmg·n i heel hi nls<'l ,. "tllOllo tl b t 1 IC .;I ow n tans. lie had dis- • ' ' J u (J' tem y ~Otlle ·1 ·t, f d · 1 f!Sell to the rank of n chi(~[ bIt I l . ~ c s 0 arlt)O' Ha.very, nnu had Wer' in search of a 1-.~tld. o' f l} .HI( IHl>W, Or ~omo yean~, left them. rrflCy . 1 l. u.. I o I ses t l nt I wd cront' fl' f'. n11 cs nbovc i11 clnro·e of· M ('l l 1 r... • o 10m a camp some I . ' \ r-- 1 r. ; Ia )Ofll:lr( rL'wo of tl . l t tc rt\'er in search of the ho s , I I . A •· lorn coutmnc( down llllU We !~Ode On toward::; the ~·n~~ !lilt t IC n~C'I'ICIItl .turned IJack with US, place w~~ reach~d Brjou's fork n~· 'lilfh~ut ?ght l~llles from our sleeping crm;srd it, n. short dis.t·wce fro:li th~ t;ent o. the nght bank. Whrrc we hnmln•d yards hro·l .d.. I tllo, . t . e ll~ttc, It has n sandy bed about four d • ' ' w.t er Ill vnnous small t · · ccp. s(~V n llJilcs funher b 0 It ( ... steams, a few lllChcs whites, New En<rhndcr~ l .r ug l us to a camp of son.c fonr or five the Columbi·l .· o • . ds, bel.tt.!ve, who ltad accompanied Capt. Wy·cth to . l rtver, ll.n were mdcpcntl nt t·n , ' , AJI I . with them, and l wns really sur . d. I r~ PJ ,ets. J\ . tad their squaws boy', that were tumblincr nbont~i~e . ttt t te nnml'.e: of ltltle fc1.t bufl~tlo-fed about thrC'e or four yea;; oiJ rrf ,cnmp~ nil ,npplueutly of th~ snmc age, covrrcd with a profu ion of fi lc~ w re encamped on a nch bottom looking- hor~es and mules \Vmc ~rasds, a!ld had a large number of fin~ b · . ' · e IC te w1th them f'• · . n out two mtles arrived at Ch I . ·d' .. a ~w mtllutes, and In On tlte hei<rhts ubove we met ~I >or~lu s Clll~lp, on nu Islnnd in the Platte Mr. Chnbor~ard was i;l the .::e '.e rr~t ~pnlllard l hnu seen in the country~ had left their fort sonw lurt ... r~~:-(le o . ent and S~. Vrain's company, and lnden \vith tire furs o{' ,tltc l·ystor J t.; mlltl'S above, Ill I he spring, with bonts ' ,, years tr:tc lie 1 d 1 as the voynacnrs on the North r I l 'r d' l~l . mettle snme fortune had taken n1::>p hi · ~nttltncl'· 'd or c, au( ~n .rng It Impossible to proceed S ... , s rcsl ence on tills ·I· I l. I ' t. Helena. 'rite river hills npr . ·J t t Is .Ul< 'w l t~ 1 he had named the Platte had lo, t the miHldy cl~·ll~: to )? .compos<'d cutt relyofsi1ud, and bly clear. Frorn the mouth of t!;~lt~ cr o . ~~.· waters, and h?re was tolernbrokcn up by smnll islands and 'lt t~ou~h forfk, I h.ad found rt occasionally season of !he year when '(lte l. lC tnne o on.r JOurney, which was nt n · ~ 1 navrgal> e ('o r anylhincr dnwinw a,c. r. .w eIr e at a h(v or· ll, t' · ,t J c s dgc, Jt was not swift-- the bed or tltc ~tre·tlrn 'l c~ .st.x lllC wsl water. The current wat> very F. ' t OttiSC grave. rom the plrtce at which we had . had bern tolernbh- WPll r,.,· [)CT(~'I . 't I et .nrolunte I cd t lte A rnpnltoes, the Platte J J g~ove of very larg·e cottnuwoo o~d s~ r l tm H'r an I tl · I 1 1 1111 I~ . ,I ' , ( . . 'c ts atH lrre had a fine prtchrd. There W'1S 'l l·ll'<l·e I·' tfe tl w tO.? bro,ul shude tlte tents were • l I' <.1ovco tors 's tl ,· . . smoke W1P m~inrr front lltc•t"c:(·ntt . 1 f' . Ill te oppo:;:rte prairie bouom patrt. arrltal air. o Mr (' ., · ... · - l ~'H'<1 Jre~ ., nd Ill<' , ., ' 1· l '.' • · cncltmpntcnt hnd flllile a • ./ . 1< cetvc( us losptr·tbl o f' 1 '1 l to gntiH'r mint with the 'li<l of 1 · ·I 1 ' Y· ne O t IC people waR sent b 'I I I . ' • w ttc 1 lc C.Oilcocred ve . I . I OJ ('( HdTa lo tongue, nnd rofl'ee wit I I ' I , I y goo< J II ep, i1nd ~ome before tl!:l. The J>eOJ)Ic in,,,·, . I l t lc tJXllry of Httgnr, were :-;oon set tl ':m I l-\nw a young i':5panish ::; wonnlp . oy fw· er<'· ,1;f rl'rH·nll S . I l y ~ palunn s, nn<l among w11h H wif·. h\ll 101n aul:l, wltOlll I found to be Beck· Ju~y 1 0. - \V c n:trtrd with our h ... l I I monllnu'"' , :md reachc{l ~c.. tl · V t.,.\1.1 1 ' s {.o rt o'5 rtLt ' ~ to~ t nfiN breakf<Hl l tltc nex t !\1'o t 1· r· · ' · · ' u u Ol'l) - ne mtle:> fwm 't. Hclcnn ' ( ' f ' , [ 243 ] 29 tate in the< vcning-. 'This post is silnnted on the South fork of the Plntrc, imrncdiat ·Jy under tlte lllOUrttains, tiUOttt sevcntcenlll ile~ Ci\~1 Of J .ong' ' peak. lt iti on the rio·ht hnnk, on the vNge of tlte upland prairie, about forty feet nhove lhe river, of which tlw inmwdiatc valley is about six: hundred yard'3 wide. The fitr 'i.l.ln is divided into various branches by small island , among which il runs with a swift current. The bed of the riv<·r is ~and and gravel, the wttler very clear, and here may be called a mountain stn·am . This region appears to be enlirely free frotH the linH'Rton ·s and tn a1h~ which give to the lower Platte its yellow and dirty color. 'rhe Black hill ::~ lie between the stream and the mountains, whnfle ::)tlowy peaks gliuer a few mil es bey md. At lhe fort we found 1\lr. • 't. Vrain, who receiv(•d us with much kitHlne~s and hO'pitality. :Maxwell had ::-~p('nt the last lwo or three years bet we n this po. t a11d the village of Taos, and here he was at home and among his friends. ~panianls frequently come ov<'r in s arch of ernploymeut, and se\'cral came in shorlly aft. ·r our arrival. They usually obtain about. ~ix dollars a month, generally paid to them in good~. They me very useful in a cump in taking cnrc of horses und mules, and 1 en~ag ·d one who proved to he an active, laborious man, and was of \'Cry con::3idcrablc s rvice to me. The elevulion of the Platte here i:3 5,100 feet above the sea. Tlw neighbori n~ mountains did not aprwar to enter far the region of perpetual snow, which was g ~nerally co1lfi11cd to the northern side of 1he peaks. On the southern 1 remarked very little. Here it appeared, so farm; l could judge in the distance, to descend hut a few hundred feel below the summits. [ rrgr tted that time did nol prnnit me to Yi it them; hut the proper ob-ject of my s11rvcy lay amo11g the mountains furth er north, and I looked forward to an exploration of their !:lnowy rece ses with grcal plcn::>urc. 'fhe piney region of the mountains to the south was cnv(·lopr.d in smoke, an ti l wns in forrncd had been on fire for several months. Pike't5 pt'ak 1::3 ~aid to be vi:-5iblc from this place, abottt I 00 miles to the south\\'nrd, hut the smoky state of lhe n.tmosphere prevented my seeing it. The wcnther continued overcast durirw my stay ltcrc, so t.hat I failed in determining tlte latitude, but obtained good observation for time on the mornings of the 11th and l2Lb. An as~umed laliluJe of 10° ~2' 30'' from the evening po~1tion of the 12th, enabled rne to obtain for a tolt!rahle correct longitude 10:':)0 15' 13.'' .July 12.- The kindncs8 of Mr. t. Vrain had enabled me to obtain a couple of horses and three good mules, and with a furth er addition to our party of the Spaniard whom I lwd hired, and two others, who were going to obtain service at Laramie'~ fork, w~ resumed our journey at LOon lhe morning of tl1c J 2th. \Ve had been able lo procure norhing at the post in I he way of provi:3ion. An expec ted ~11pply from Taos had nol y ·t arrived, and a few pounds of cofl"cc was all that coul1l he spare1l to u.i. In aduition to this, we had driCll meat enough for the first day; on the nc:ct we expected to find buffalo. From this po<:~t, accordin,!{ to the estimate of the country, the fort at the mouth of J ,aramie'~ fork, which wus our Of' XI point of de~Linf\tion, was nearly due no1th, dil:)l.ant about one hnndreu am] twcll t._v -five miles. For a short distance onr rnad la.y clown the valley of tltc Platte; which rc ·cmhled a garden in the gplendor of fields of varictl flower~ , which ~llcd the air with fm_grance. The only timber I noticed consi~tcd of poplar, birch, cottonwood, and willow. In somclhing less tho.n three miles, we cro~ed: 'rhomp.')on's creek, one of the affiucnts to the left bank of the South fork, a. fine strcnm ahout sixly-five feel wide and three feet deep. Journeying on, the low dark line of the lllack hills lying bet \vccn u~ and the mountaius to |