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Show • [ 174 J 50 tr ry IlJtlch Vol c found none to-day at noon· or two th e')-- beoo-"a n tof su,u er ve ll 011 tile ·P latte catue to a grove o f c.o tton-d . tl om eo our searc ' B I f l an 'm lC c I J', ·u· ge had recently encamped. )ong 1S o t 1e wood, whrre .ome n wn Vl . ud tile o-rouud which the lndiall ~ had cut u yet orcen covctc b , . • . . cotton woo :" 1 . . It i only in the wmtcr that 1ecomse 1 d t feed 1hctt wtses upon. . 1 . · own o . . . 'liuin<Y them. and their resort to Jt at t llS ttme wa, had ~o.tllls n~cans ~1 r\~ t, tu.t~ of the'co lltltry. 'Ve followed their cxanlp1e, a stnlung evtcleucc o t_1et~ 'l o-rove of 'Ollllf"l" p0plar~. Thi began to preaud tum ~d our horses ~-u " o.1 for 01 { ouro animals dcpcndl'd altogether sent itself as a very seuous ev_l ' th~ fur_~~w~~rt~~s~~~~\~~~~ f~f~~\1;1~01~\'~:~e~:thc sc?uts came ~n llopi_1~g in w_ith :Shot Y f 1 d. ' V e tnrned itt umned~ately . tow::uu the Jtv er, wlllch the '' llundn o u tuns. v . I l ·t. ' 1 1 ·n-h hauk where we form ed wtt 1 t 1e car s a very co c here_ ha a ~te~p llol th~ Ji~rer within which the animals were strongly barncade, ~cstu;g.rt l The gt;tls were dischargell and reloaded, an_cl mrn hohbled all pl~ ,c tdc. ·, ''f of the bauk. in the direction by wlllclt the thrown forwan., Ull er CO\ e . . I I d. 1 d (T · . , , 1, t Q11r interpreter who, w1th t 1e 11 wn, 1a 0 0ile )UdtallS WCIC expCC t( • ' · d b s· meet them c:.tmc in, in about teu minutes, accompan tc y two ~o ux. Ttoh ey lookt' d's n ll'·\,' . 1 \VC ''onld obtain from thetll only some coufuscd ,tlH "' I . l I 11- . , · , \Ve.lea rneu that they belonged to the party W llC 1 lJ.l oecn lll~Ot~~~~~.l~i\l.of the cmi ,rmuts, whom they Jwd ovett~l<en at Rock Jud cpc~ld· 01 l S ·t \AT 0 ence on t le wre '\ a ter . Ilt'.r e th e ·I.) :J.rty had dts~.1 greed, f'a u. d calm·. e llltgl h fio-ltt~l lto' amottg t1 em ·lvf's Ottc pnrtwn were de~1rou o ,tttac \lllg 1e L • l db I l' t ... 0 bnt the others were opposed to it; and finally tbey 1a ro <~11 up :lvl1 ttt>l Ls :m:;, a ll ba .n d s, a tlcl d'tsr1> er ·cd over the• conntry. The grcall'r portiOn of 1 · 1 1 t . I .1 1. 1· tlwm tau aone ove 11 to tile tc·r ritorvJ o{ tile Crows•, anc· tttteu1c cc tf o1r1 e tllll hy· wav o lb. tl 1c '-v·\ ''1 ti ·L1 1•1·ver· v·' tllcv) ' in the hOI)e . ol bt'lltg ab e to · a 1u pon ~ame ~:inall narties of Crow lnt1ians. Tlte remamder were rctttrlllug c,own tl Platte 1rl sc:al\ered partic•s of ku and twrnty; a11d those wltom we ha~ .:l~OUllll l'~U bt·louard tO those WhO had UU \·ocatrcJ all attack 011 the Clnl· ~rants. Several oi the mcu suggested l:)}wotir~g tl1e;n ou tile s1:~t; ~nt 1 b romp tly t1isconutc1wnccJ any snch proeeeuwg. fl tey fnrthet JtJfot me_~ ~e that buiblo wel t' ~.cry scarce, and ltttl? _or ut~ gra'-S to b~ .~ou,n,d. Tl:ete had been 110 rain, ntH.l iunumrraule <ttwnllttes o! gr_asslwppe_ls h.hl ~lrst~t)_Y" cd the grass. Tit is iusect h:1d been so_ numerous smce .lcavttlg _FOit L~tamie, that tile ground seemed altve wll'h' t_hem; and 111 ' alktug~ _a ~lttlc moviuo- doull preceded our footsteps. llll=' wns had 11ews. No b1nss. no buffalo0-foocl f,Jr neither horse uor man. I g~ ve them some pln ~!' of tO· bacco, anll tltey went o1T, apparently well ~atlsficd to be clear o( ns ; f~r my men did not look upo11 them very lovttJ~Iy , a1_1d they _glanced_ sn pt· ciously at our warltke prcparat_ions, au? the little nng of niles wlnc.;ll sur-. rou11ucd thettl. They were cvtdenLiy m a bnd humor, and shot one of their horses wltcu thcv bad left us a short distance. . \\ 7e coutiuued our 1i1arch, :wd, after a journey o[ about twenty-one rmles, mr.ampcd on the Platte. Dming the day, I had occa ·ionally _re marl~ed a mou~· the It ills tltc psoralea e.\clllenta, tlte breau root of the Inutans .. 1 h.e swu/ use this root very extl'nsive::ly, and I have frequently met w1th It amo: 1 ~ tltP.rn, cnt into thin ~!i ces and dried. In the course of the evening we were vi.::>it~d by SIX Indians, who told us tim~ a larger party_was e~· camped a few mil< s above. Astronomical observatiOns placed us m longt· tude 104° 59' 58", aud latitude 42° 39' 25". . W c made the nexl day tweuty-t wo miles, and encamped on the nght 51 [ 174 J bauk of the Platte, where a l_1andsome meadow afforded tol erably o-oou grass. There were the remattJR of a11 old fot t here, thrown np in some ~ud dc~ ernergen 1 cy, and ?!l the opposite side was a pietn_rc. que blufi' of ferrugtnous sam.stoue. ll!ere was a h and~omc grove a lutle above, and scatt rcd groups o[ trees borde red the rive_r. Bumtlo made their appearance t_ht' afternoon, and til~ hnntc:rs came lll, shortly after we had encnmreu, WJtlt tltree fine COWS. file lllght WllS fiue, and observations aave ft>r the latitude of tile camp, 42° 17' 40". Jul~y 25.-YVe made but thirt?e11 ntile this day, antl c'ucampcd about noon w a pleasant g rove on the n ght bauk. Low srnfl<)lcb were erected upon which the meat wa!:-> lnid, cut up i1tto tltm strips, and small fire; kindled below. Our object was to profit by the vicinitv of tilt' hufJ'alo to lay in a stock of provisions for ten or firtcen Juys. r u' the course of ~he aftcmoon the l111utcrs brought in five or ix: cows, anc] <lll hands wrre kept bn ... ily employ~d ir1 pH·puring the lllcat, to the dr~· ing of wlti clt the guard attended durlllg the rrigh t. Onr pP-ople !tad recovered tltcir o-:l yl'ty, and the busy fi g ures around the hluziug firrs g<nu a picture. qnc atr to tlte camp. A very serious arriJcut ot·cmrcd tltis uwrnitw in the brl'~d ina of 't L "l' ~ one of thf' harometert>. These had lH'ell the object of my eoltstant ~·olici-tnde, and, as I had in tended them prillcipa\ly ftJr mom1tain serv 1c·c, I rwu used thPm as scldorn as possible; taking tltctn always dow11 a t night, 1\tld ou the occ·ttrrencc of stortus, in order to lcs~eu lite chuiJces of l>l'illg br,>l\en. I wa reduccJ to ou c, a staudurd baromekr of Trouo·IHou's con:truction. This 1 J etcrmincd to preserve, if pos,ihle. The latit~tdc i · 42° 51 ' 3.5 ', and by a mean of the lCSll]t:-; f1 Olll chronometer aml illll<tf uisla llCC:. t ilt.' adopted longitude of this Ct\lllp is 105° 50' ·15 ". July 2G.-Early this moruittg we were ag.1i11 iu motio11. \Ve ha-l ,\ st~ck of provi ... iotts [or fifteen days carefu lly ~tored away i11 the t'<<rb, and tlus I resolved should ouly be encroacltrd upou wl11~11 our rifles .·hnnld t:tll to pro_curc tL present support. 1 detcrmi111 u 1o r:~tclt tltr> ntouut<tius, if it w~~ro 111 nny way possible. Iu !l1e llll'il tl titne, hnJf:do were pi PJlt y. I tt sL UJt~es frotu our cucampntettt, (wllicl1, l1y way of' di~tinctin11, we s!Jall call On<·d l\lt'Ut camp,) we eros ·cd a !Jalldsnlllc stream, called La Pourclte JJoisf:e. It is well timbcred,aud,auwug the flower~ iu bloolll 011 its I ank'l, I rernarkc'd S('VCral asle'rs. . Fn'e llJi!t·s ftlrthcr, we made onr 110 011 hi.llt, ou t!te banks of tite P:a'll', m lite !:->had~ of so_mc cotto11wood '. 'l'ltcre we:e hen•. as g<·:~e·t-.dl: now a!ong tlte nver, tluc kets of luj;;)()phaa', t!tc gJ·IliJn- ric /J(l'II t>l' tl1~.- C"tllllltry. 1.hey were of t.wo kiuus-otJC bcarillg a 1\.!d ben '. (the ,,/ic 1 ;/.·eultl a rgnt.iut of N11t1all ;) the other a yellow ucnv, of wlnlil the 'f\trt.n~ ·t··e satJ t'> mn kc a kit ttl of rob. · lly a meridian obsrnration, tilt• latirudc of the place wns ·l ~~o .r;o• OS". It was my daily pract icc to take bh~ervatintls of tiw ~lllt't. lllPI idirt ll alti•t:de; aud why they arc not give11, will a;>pcwr itt tltc ::-c,)lt<'l. l~~igllt ntilt!S fmtltt•r we rcadwd tlte_ mouth of lkt!r creek, whcrt• we ('!lf'<trllp1"1. Here W<.t•; '1'1 ~hnnutlt)Ce of n ch grass, awl our <tl1itttal · werL~ co llpeu::;a t~'d f•ll' p:t-.t pri'., .h~ IIS. Tills ~treatu W<ts at this ti,ue twcutr feet hii><• J, .ttlll ,,.t>ll ti ll! ~H' I "U Wtth cottonwood of an uncommon size. It i~ t!te l,trge ... t trillltiM) nf th· Platte, ue tweeu the mouth of the Sweet \ Vatl'r a11d the Larautie Our ~l ~tronomical observatious gave for the rnoutl1 of tile stream a lo uryir t,d~ t,C 106° 08' 24 ", and latitude 4.2° 52' 24 ". 0 Ju.ty 27.-Nothing worthy of meution occurred on this day; we trav• |
