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Show 36 a11gl~ s, gave it. qnitc an imposi11g appearance in the uncertain light of cvc11111g. A clnster of lodg ·s, wltich the langu::!ge to~d u · lwlongcd to Sioux Indian~, wa pitched under the_ walls, u11d,. wtth tl~e fitte ba_ck <rrontJd of the Black hil ls nn(l tile promment peak o1 Lara1111e mountam, ~ll'Oll gly drawn in the clear light of the west ' rll. s_lqr, where ~~~~e S ll_ll had ;-tlrt'cl ~ly .e t,th c whole fonlled at the motnellt ~ ·tnl{lngly heat llt• :d mcture. From the company at St. Lonis I had letters lor: l\1r. J~oud ean, trJe ~- '' ltlemnu 111 char~ c of the post, by whom I was rect' tvcd wttl! q r~at ll o~pr tal l~Y and a11 ·fficieut l<iudt tess, wlticll was invaluable to 111e dnnng- my ~tay m the eo 1111 trv. I found om people l'ncampctl on the bank, a short .dtstance a hove the ·fort All were well· aud, in the ettjoymcnt of n. bouullful surper, which co ff't~e atH.l broJacl made luxurion ' to u<>, we soon forgot the fa-t ignes of the lust ten U<IY~· . . . ' .fu~IJ Hi.-l found that, dmin<T my nb~c 1:re, tl1c s rtu~twn. of aff..urs had lltH.lergotlc ~o m n chano-c; and the usn~ I qmct an.d omcwhul mon oto u~ns rf~ularity of tile Ctttllp had given pl :lCt' to <'~c rt c· m~nt and alarm . . 1 he ci t.cnmstiulcf'::-: which occa~io n ed th is rbat1gL wdl be fonnd 11arratccl 111 the followina e:xtrnct from tlte journal of l\Ir. Pn'ns:--, which commences with the dav ~ f our scpnration on tlw South fork of the Platte. E.ctracl from th e j nllnwt of 1Vr. P1·euss. " July(, - vVe crossed the pl ateau or l1ighl::md bet~een the. two fo~l~s in about six hour '. I let rny horse 2;t) us slow as he hked , to mdcmntfy us both fo·· the previous hard, bip ; atHl about noott we reached the N?rlh fork. Tltere was llO sign that onr party had pa:::.sed; we rou~·, therefore, to sonw pine tree~, uus;tddlccl tlw ho r. l'S, and stn: tclwd our .lunbs on tire ~r<l~., a waiting tile arrival of onr CtHnp:.wy. ..\ 1ter ~·cma mtll g hr:rc two ht)\11' , tuy compnuion bl'Catllf' imp·t tJPitt, mounted llts hor!-ic aga lll, and rode ofl' down tile rive r to :->ec if lle could discover om peopl e. I felt so tuarodn yf~ t,that it was a ltolriL ie tdca to me to bt~ tride that sadd le again ; so i lay ·till. I kuew they co uld uot con1c any other way, and then my companion, orw of tho best mrn ot the company, would not abandon me. Tile Sl111 went duwu· he dtd not come. U ncasy I did 110t feel, but very hungry; I bnu no p;·ovisions, but 1 r'onld make a fire; aud as I C8picd two dove" in a tree, I tried tn kill one; bnt it ueeds a better marksman than myself to kill a little bird with a rille. I made a large fire , however, lighted wy pipe-this tnw fr iend of mHH~ in cv1·ry c•mcrgeucy-lay down, and let my thotwlJts watH..l<'r to tlt1~ far cr1 t. It wa~ not mnuy minutes after when I h e:Hd tile tramp of P !Jilbt' and my f1it!Jfnl co mpanion was by my side. Jie had found rh~~ p:trty, wlto llau been delayed by ntaking their cache, ~lbo (lt ~even nnll'S below. To the good supper wltich IJC brought with him I did ::unpll· j1 1 ~tice . He ho.d forgotten salt , and I. tried the soldier' ~ substitute in tltltn of W<'r, and 11sed gunpowder; bnt 1t answered hallly- bitt r cnnn•.:h, unt 110 Ibvnr of kitchen salt. I slept well; aml was only disturbed bv two owls, which were attracted by the fire, and took their place in ill{ tn·e UJH.!er wh1ch we slept. Their music seemed as disagrecablP. to IllY 1om pan ion aR to myself; he fired his rifle t wicr., and then they let us al('d•'. "Ju~IJ 7.- At about 1 o o'clock, the party anived; anu we continueu our iourney through a country whirh offered but little to in terest the tra vcller. The soil was much n~ore sandy than in the valley below the confluence 37 [ 174 _] ~f tlte fork, , ~~nd th' fa~e of the country no I on O'er presented the rc frcshlng green winch had hi!IJC' rto charactPrized it. The ricl1 <r1·"s \V ' t"' I' . I I . l ' lh ' ·~ llO \V •Ollltu on y 111 ( tsperscd ~pots, 011 low gro unds, nlld o11 the bo ttom lane! of the strear~1s. · r .~ .~~~~~ .dro tr ~ltt, joinc~l to extrr. 111e h •at, !tad so parched up th? uppe1. ptalllls. tlt:ll tltly wPrc 111 ma ny places lmld, or covered oulr wJtlt .a thlll growth of ye~low and poor 1r r a~s. The 11at ure of tht• soil r<'ll· clers_1t extrC!lle ly s u sl'c~p.!tb_l<' to_ the vit·is::-i tndC' of til' cl imate. 1ktwevtJ t~1c~ forks, and fronJ tit 'lr jttllC~JO II to the Black hills, tl1e formatio11 cou~ J.Ls o~ marl and a ~oft ~a rilly lunestou<', with granit ic, and 'lone. Snclt a JO,r~n a t t t> ll ca 1~nnt grv: n sc ton. sterile soil; nnd , on our ret urn itl s •pteutbci, wltcn tile CO ll~Jt i y had been wa tered by frequ ent rains the valle vf the Platte looked ltlw a gardt' IJ ; o rich wa the ve rdure o't· tl1 O'J"l ~,, cl I . I bl . ::;,~S~f.S, an ~o. UXLlriH ilt t w nott l of nbu ndc.utt flowers. The wild saae beo-i11s to mnke t.ts appe~ll'Uilce, and tim?er is so scarce tll :tl we ge tH rall)r made our fires oltlle boiS d~ 11llC~/C. W_Ith the exception or IJOW and th(-!11 an isolated tree or two, taud 111 <r Idee a lrn·ht house on the river bank. there 1s IJOlW whatever to be ectL ' "Jui!J ~. -On r 10a9 to-day was a solitary oue. No gallic llladc it. appearance- not even a ?nOalo or a stray a111 ~lope; a11d nothi11g occurred to break tl~1 c monotony nn tJI _abo_tl f 5 o'clock, whe11 the caravan made a sudden halt. 1 ~e re was a gn ll t:J llllg ~11 of sco uts alld horsemen from ev •ry ide-a ll lt rrymg to aud fro 111 notsy conf'll ·ion; rifles were talceu from their cover. bull_et pouche exa111inecl : itJ short, there was rite r.ry of ' Iud inns, ' hcaJ'(i aga111 . I l~ad b_eco1ue .o mnch accustomed to tlwsc alarn1,, that now tltcy n?ade but ltttle rmprcs~ton on nte; and before I had tiu1c to become excued, the new comer were asce rt ained to be white. . It \\:a· a Iaro-e pany of tra_ucrs a n ~ trappnrs, concl uctcd by Mr. Bridvc r, a man well lu 1uw11 in the In tOr)· o( the country. As the ~ llll was low, nnd there wa a fine ~ras parch not fat: a head, th?Y ~umcd back and encamped fM the ni o-ht \vith us. l.Vlr. Hn d~cr was IIIV Ited to ~ uppe r; and, after the table cloth was removed, we l1stened with eager iiJterest to an account of their adventure . What they had me t, we wo uld be likely to euco unter; the chances whiclt ha~ .b~(~llcu th?m, won.ld probably ll nppe11 to ns ~ a ttd we looked npon theu hfe as a prcturc of onr own. He informed u that the condition of the couutry l_lacl become cxcecdinoly dangerons. T ile Sionx, who had ?ecn badly d1sposed, l1ad brokc11 out in to openlli..,tility, a11d in tl 1e preccdmg. autumn hrs pa.rt_Y had cncouut red them in a scv 're <'tlo·agemt nt, iu ';htch a llUtllbcr of lrvcs !tad been lost ou botlt side~. U11it d with the ~hcye~lll.c .a·1~d G_ro~ Vetllre Jndinns, they wr:re ~co tt .ring the npper count ry ll1 war p.u tics of g t cat forc·c, a11cJ were a t tht ttme 111 the nei(T irboriJood of the R ed B utte,, a fi.tmous laudmark, which was dtr<·ctly ~1 1 our path. Tbcy had d~clared \~ar upon every living th iug wlliciJ sho uld be fo und westward o~ that polllt ; tlt o11gh their mai11 obje t was t1) al tack a Iaroe ca_mp of wlntl'S and S1take l1td ians, who had a rendezvous in the ·w~et Water v.a.ll~y. A.v~~ilil_l g ltimself or his it ltintatt' lmnwl(·cJ~e of the COlltltry' he l~ad l Cclcll_ed ~<lltlllJte by aq unnsnal ront e tiJ:·o uglt rile Black hills) and avotded c?mlllg .rn to cnnt.1ct with any of the scattt~rcc.l parties. This <rentleman ofl en~d hrs serv ices to accompa11y us so far as the ll•·:1d of' the S~ ect \Vater ; bnt tl!1' ab ence <>f onr leader, which WM> dcl'}>ly n••rrt~flt'u by u~ ·d I re l d · t · · b I -. ' < . ' II( e r~~ _1 llnj.>OSSL l! for ll!:> to C'lll<'l' Ll J>Oil SI !Cit <IJ'l':lll6't'llH'll f. lt ~ ll c.\mp cons:stlll;j o( nwn who"c live· had l>•!cl• ~pe11l i11 litis eou utry, I expected to hucJ every ouc prepared for oc<.:urreJlCL!S of thi~ 11atme; l>nt, to |
