OCR Text |
Show [ 174 ] 53 • with herds of antelope; and a grizzly b~~n--the only one pea ranee to-?~?' .· cr the · omney-was seen scrambllllg np among the we cttCO\\lltt,;led duttitl;:, . a\licrln rise near the river, we c:.wght the first 1,. roc\. · 1\ s we pas ec ove1 < :J . 1 · d. . . . , [ b " xr· d .· , . 1101111t-tin aJ)I1 anne-, at t liS tStt.lllCc. o a ont . f the \, llt nvcl 1 .. ' ..., '1'1 . d. . VlCW 0 . r I nd darl· mouutainous ridcre. le VIeW lS. tpm-seveuty nulcs, to bl e .. t. ot was \\Til.tCll\.lw.d been created i!l onr mind .. . by man\• d · . oment t 1e pte ure. l • 1 c m ... \ 1.u f . 11 . 110 have CtHn11ared these mountatus to the Alps d ~ ''lllttOnso trave et ,w • . I . . . . . esc! . ·! • d d "' l· of the cr\ittcrilla peaks wbtC l riSe lll lCY maJC ty ll1 ~t~t~~~~ ~11e/u~:~ gl~;c~~:r~ uine 0~ ten tho 0 u. aml .feet into th' n'gion ~f eter-amt ~ 'fh . 1 1 ,5<' 01· tltc river was rclwvcd by groVl'S of wtllows, 1 suow~ e tw cct 11e "' . .1 d na .. d. t ·0 .1 t after a march of tweuty-stx 1m cs; au un-where we cucn.mpc ,"\. ntt> l '' . b I I· mcrous 1u-t •• 1 • 1 . 1 flowers had made the nvcr ottom oo \ gay as a 1a t.-co otee, 1 1 ·1 b tl I \\~ c c1 1 ·c a }1or e which had been a )D lit oue. 'u y H~ n- crnrden c tonn lCl ' ' 1 bl ~d.t alts, ;u, ecau e 1 ·, 1 f'· 11ad been so much worn that 1c wa una e to iiS too s c • .. 7 ,l. IH.l durincr the 11 icrht, a dog came mto the c~u:np. . . ll:..nfl c." r' ruas l -' 1.-0 nbr cam p ,~,;,sat the foot of the gramt tnonntam8, wluch ,y Ll < ..., • • ' r b d this moruino· to take some barometncal hctg1 l t~., ; an d 1lo re we c 1111 1 c 1, .... 8 nett">\ tile first 111~cr11i e. Ou our return, we saw one among t te roc \s w t• " ' :::- 1 1 · 1 at t I1 e moutlJ o f tl1 e Platte river • \\' e left here one of onr wrscs, w He 1 1 ~ was unal) I e to pi.o cc , e.ul fu" t·ther • A few miles from tltc cnr• ampmcntd w1e .C tt tII C n·v cr, W111 ·C t1 rll"l4l {es a bettd to the on t h ' and, tra vcrs. mg an 111•1 u atlllg d conutry, cousl . 11·nob of a to:· r·.1. yisb micaceous ~aud. tonc· au.d .f inef- gratne -.cfoi n-lome ratt~o::, struck it agalll, an~ encamped, aft?r a J_omnc~ ~ .t;v ~Ll\) tve g ., , A str·onomical observatJOllS placed us 111 latttnde 4~ 3~ vO ' and llll t: s. -~- lou~itudc 10S0 30' 13". . . .· . . . . . 0 .. ~ .fllt'rust 5.-Tilc morntng was dark, w1th a dttvmg tam~ and dt S<l te~- ubly cold. 'vVe coutinncd our route as usual; but the we~tl!cr became so bad, that we were glad to avail ourselves of tlte shel ter ofl.ered by a m."" i land about ten mil es above our last encam~mcnt, wbtch was co.vetcd with~ dense orowth of willows. There was fine grass for our ::unmals, and the timberb airorded us comfortable protection aud go?d fues. !n the afternoon, the snn broke through the clouds for a slwrt tmw,. and the ?arometer at 5, p. m., was at 23.713, the thermomctel~ G0°, wtth the wwd · strong from the uorthwest. vVe availed olll·s~lves o[ tl!e fine w.eathc.r to make excursions iu the ueig!Jborltood. The nvc!·, at thts pla~c, I. botdered by hills of the valley formation. They are oi.moJcrate lwtgllt : one of the hiahcst peaks on the ricrht bu.uk being, accordll1 cr to the barometer. one hnndr~d and eighty feet above the river. Ou the l~ft bauk they arr htgher. They consist of a fiue wltite cl:lyt'Y saudstone, a wlute calcareous sandstone, and coarse sand tnue or pudu ing stone. . .!lugust 6.-It conti11ucd steadily raining all the Jay; ou~, notw lt lt .. tallding, we left our encalllpment in the afte rnoon. O~r a nuual. had b~en much refreshed by t he ir repose, allll an u.bnnun.ncc of nch~ soft gras. , w!uch had been much improved. by tlle r<liu:s. Ttl nhoul three miles, we reached the elltrance of a !canyon, where the Sweet Water issues upon the lllOl'C open valley we had passed o\rrr. lmml'Uiutely at tile (!lltrancc, a11d sup •run posed directly upon tilt' grauitc, are trata uf' comp:-tct calc~trcons sa~tdstonc at!d chert, alterna tiug wi th fi tt~ white and rl'ddisll wh1tc, i.lnd hue gray ~ml red saiHlstone,·. TIIC'">C strat<l dip to thc .e t' tward. at au at ~glc tli a hont l S0 , and form the westPrn limit of the saudstone alHllinJ cstnue .t0l: t~1atinus ou the line of our rontc. ·I L"re we cutl'rccl a.mo11g tlw pnmtli\C rocl .;. The usual ro:ld passes tO the right of thi:s place; but we wou11d, 59 [ 171 ] or rather scrambled, our way up the narrow valley for several honrs. \Vilducss and di.order were the character of tllis sc(•nery. T~lC ri\' C'r had been swollen by tl.te late rain , and came ru hing through with au itn pctuou , current, tltrcc or ~onr feet dee p, aud. generally twenty yard: broad. The ~ralle~ was sometm1cs the l.H·?adth o{ the .st ream! and ,onwtimc opc11eJ mto l1ttle a reen meadows, stxty yards wuJc, wtth open gro ves of a. pen. The tream was bordcrcu throughout with aspen, beech, and willow: ~\lid tall piucs grew ou tile sides a11d ummirs of Lite cr;tcrs. On both ides the <r ranitc rocks roe preci pitously to the ht' in·llt of tlHcc IJuud rcd aud'five lnmdred_ fee t, turmiuating ~ 11 j:1ggcd a11d. brok<'n poiuted p 'aks; aud fragm? nts of fallen rock .Jay plle~l up at the foot of the prcwipiccs. G11eiss, mtca slate, aud a wltltc gratJlte, were au1n11g the V<lri cties 1 uoticeu. line were many old traces or Leaver Oil the ,trcam; renlllalltS or dam. , lH'ar which were lying trees, which tit 'Y i1 :1d nt uuwn, one n11cl two feet in diameter. The hilL ent irely ~hut up tile river at the end of about live mile , and we turned up a ravine that led to a lli crll prairie, which 'Ccmed to be the general level of the co untry. lienee, to the summit or tlw ridn·r there is a regnbr and ~c r y gradual risC'. Blocks of gra uite Wt're pi led ~11; at the heads of the r~vutcs, a!HJ small bare knolls of mica sl:1te and milky quurtz protrucleu at lrcqumtt tuterval · on the prairie whieh was whitened in occasional spot with sm~ll ·<dt ~a~ce. '·where tl.l~ ~~~tcr bad evaporated, and left the bed covered Willi a sltmlllg wcrnstntton of salt. The cveuinrr was very cold, a unrtllw cst wind driving a fine rain iu our l~1cc ; a11d a~ nightf~ll w~ de cended to a little stream on wltich we etJcamped, about two mtlcs from the Sweet Wa~er. llere had recently been a very la rge camp of Snake and ~ro.w l.nutans; aud some large poles lying ahout afforded the mean o1 pltcltmg a tent, and making otltcr pl:.tccs of ·hclter. O~tr. fire ~o-uigltt were made prillcipally of the dry bra11ches of the tutcmlsta, winch covered the slop s. It bnm quickly with a clear oil v flame and makes a hot fire. The !till here arc composed of hard comp~ct mic~ .late, with vciu~ or qun.rtz. ' .llugust 7.-W c left our encampment with the rising suu. As we ro e from the bed of tile creek, the snow line of the monttta.iu, stretched crrau clly ~)efore us, the white peuks glittering in the sun. They llad bcen"h idueu 111 t.he ?ark. wea~IJ cr oft It~ Ia, t few day, , atJd it had been snowing 011 them, while It ?'tuned 111 the plallls. 'Vc crossed a ridue, attd again , truck the ~wect Wat?r-here a lH·auti ful, swift stream, with a more open valley, ltmbered wtth beech autl ~ ottonwn od . It 11ow begun to lo e itself in tlte many small fork which make its ltead; and we continued np the main stream until ncnr 110011, whet! \t.'e le ft it a few mile., to make our noou halt on a .small creek among the I tills from which tlte stream iswos by a ::.mall op('lllllg. Within was a beantifnl gras~y spot, covered with an open grove of la.rge beech trees, among which I fouta.l several plauts that I had 110t prevwtt ly seen. The afternoon was cloud y, with squ alls of rain; but the weather he~ a me.fin c at sunset, when w e again encamped on the Sweet Water, withIll a Jew miles of the SouTn PA...,s . The cou ntry over w!tieh we ltavt! pas-;ed to ·day cousists priucipully of the C1HJJpact micu ~ la te, which crop.; out on all the rid ~r:-:, 1nnkin ~ the uplands Vt'l'Y rocl\y atHl ,..,[a ty. [n the e~carpmc nts wltiell border tile crcl'kS, it i-.; : ePII alturuating with a lj ~lncolored granit e, at an incli nntiott nf -15° ; the beds v;nyi11g in thickuesfrom two or three feet to Si'\: or eight Jtuuured. '\ t a u i~tau ce, the grunitt: |