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Show • [ 174 J 32 ine reaion of the mountains to the south was cnvelo~~d i,n smok~, T he p y . of. d had been on fire for several rn0nths. I tim s peak ts and 1 was Ill onlle d d ·1 t the south 'd o be vi ible from this place, about one bun re mt es o . . - sat t b I J·y state of the almo ... phere prevent ed my secmg tt. ward ; ut t te smo ~ · . h . -::0 that I f.-tiled in The weather continued overcast durlllg my stay etc? , . . ' d · · til"' latitude bnt obtaitlCd good ob~ervattotls for tune on the eternllllll~~· tll eu 11th and' 1 C>th Au a"sumcd latitude of 40o 22' 30" from tm lI O C fell VllC l!!,l· .I I Jg j)O ' t'tion o(f the ....1.. .C..... );h ' enabled me to obtuiu, for a. •t olerably cor- . . I 1 0 r:: 0 l C) ' l C) 'I rect louolluue , ::> "" "" • • bl d .t bt ·n a Juh ~ 2 -·i·he J\iud11e::;~ of Mr. St. Vram ha<l en a e me . ? o at ' cou 1f of i10r.es ~mel three good mules; ami, with a further addtttoll to our t of tile ~pania rd whom I had hired, and two othc~s, who were P~f~~~ to obtain service at Laramie's fork, we resumrd our JOUrt!ey at 10, og n t 1°w mornH· w o f tile 1~ CJ tJ1· \'\' c h"a d be<·' ll able to p.r oem, e, uot1b lldl g at the post 111 the way of provision. An expco::tcd supply I rom I ao 1a not yet an~i ~cd a 11d a 1ew pouuds of coil'ec was all tit at cot~ld be pared to us. In additio;1 to this, we lt<Hl dri d ut eat enough for the fu:st day; on t~1e next, we expected to find buJI'ulo. From tl1is post., acc_ord11lg t? the cstanate of the cutmtry, the fort Gl.t tile mouth of Laram.w's Jork, whtch was o~l.r next point of dcstiunliou, was nearly due north, <..11 taut about one huudn:d and tweuty-fi vc ll1ilcs. PI· 1 · 1 For a short distance, our road lay down the val.lcy of the ,Lit?, w ttc l resembled a gard r 11111 tl1e, plendor of fields of var!ed flow c.rs, wl11ch filled the air with fragrance. The on ly tint bcr ~ uottc:ed cotJSt5ted of yoplar, bi rcl1 cotltHlwoou and willow. In son.P tln11g les than three tulles, \Ve cross~d Thompsot'J s creek, one or the aillll.cnts ~o the left bank of the South [01 k-a. fine 5t1eam about s1xty-five feet wtdc, ~nd three fpct deep. Jourueyina on the low datk line of tile Black lulls lytng between us aud the nwnut ~ius :o the left, itt about ten ruilc from the fort, we reached Cac!te a la Poudrc, where we halted to llOOr~. TIJis !.'. a v~ry bl'UlltlfHl .tnountaill st team, about one ltuudred feet wtd , flowlllg wllll a full swtft current over a rocky bed. "Ve halteu under t.hc ~hade of so1ue cotto11 wo?~s, with which U•e stream is wooded scattenugly. In the uppet~ part of 1ts comsc it rnus amid the wildest nJOuntaiu scenery, and, break111g tl1rough the Black hdl::;, fali~ illto the Platte about te11 mi.les belnw this place. ln the cour!:>e of om late journey, I had mauageu to uecome tlte po sessor of vcrv uutractablc mule-a perfect vixen-aud her I had tm11ed over to my sr>~utiarJ. It occupied ll" about l~nlf nn !tour lO·<~ay to get the s~d~l~ upou her; bnt, ot1ce 011 h e~ back, Jo~e could not be tlt~moutlted, rcaltzt.ll0 the .. H.:con11ts given of 1\lextcan hor 'cs anJ hor.semanslup; allCI we coutm· ucd our ro11tc ill tbc aftemoon. At cvetlitw we eucampeJ on Crow (?) creek, having truvcllt'd about lwenty-cight0 ~niles. Nouc of the party were well arqn:liuted with the country, a11d I had great dillicu lty i11 asccrt.tiniu~ what were . tile r~arncs or tile ~ tream s \VC crossed betwecu the North auu South forks o[ lhc llatle. This I suppos~d to be Crow creek. It is what 1, called a salt ~t,cam,.a ud ~he water stauds in pools having no contiuuous cour e. A fine gratllcd sandstoue n1ade its appearance 111 the bauks. The observatious of the t.light placed n · in latitude 40° 42', longituJe 104° 57' 49". Tl1e b.~rornetcr at SUIJSet was 25.23 1; attacheu thermometer at 66°. Sky clear, except in the cast, with a light wind fro r11 the north. J ul!J 13.-There being no wood here, we used last night the boi3 de 33 [ 174 J vache, which is very plentiful. At onr camp this morning, the barometer wa ·at 25.235; the atlachcc~ therr:r:tometcr 60('. A few clo uds were moving through a deep blue sky, wtth a hgh t wind. from the west. • \flcr a ride of tw elve nli le>_ in a north_erly direction, over a plain covered with innumerable quauttrtcs of caclz, we reached a small creek in wllich theru was wa t.er, and :vllerc everal.herd of bulEdo were scattered abont among the _ravmcs, Wlllch always aflord goou pasturngu. \Vc ·ccm now to be passmg aloug the ba e of a plateau of the Black hills in which tile formation COIJSi~t~ of marls, I'O ille of tl 1cm white and laminated; the country to the left l'ISJug t~dden.ly, and falling olf gradually attd uui formJy to tl.e right. In .five ?r s1x r~11les of a uort ltcastcrly co ur, <', we :-;truck a high r idge, brokeu mto co tHea! peak ·, 011 whose s11 mnJit Ia ro-e boulder. were aatllcn.'d in heaps. The magnetic tlirccliou ef the ridgc5 i~ northwc t an~l ::;outhea. st, tltc glittering whit~ of its precipitous ~iJcs lllakinq it visible for ntnny mtles to the outl1. lt Js composed of a ·oft earthy limestone and nta.rl · resemblina that, hereafter de~cribctl, iu the l1eirrhborbood. of the Chimuey' 1'0~1'( , I N ,:') Oil I lC orth fork of the Platte, easily worked bv the wiuds nnu ratn , <~nd sometimes moulded into very fantastic shapes." At the foot ot tltc ~10rthcrn .slope was the betl of a creek, some forty feet wide, comittg, by !rcquctJt /all~, fron~ the lwncll above. It was shut in hy high pcrpcudJCLllar banks, 111 winch were strata of white lamimtteu marl. Jts ued w.as perfectly dry., .aud tltc le<tding feat ure of the wltole region is one O_i I'CI~arkabJc <l i'JdJty, a nu perfect ffl~cdoru from tnoi lure. Jn alJont 5~x miles we .cro, eJ the bed of a11other dry crC'ck; aud, coutinniua our nde over a l11·g·h level prair!c, a Jit~lc before. sundown we came suddeuly n1~on a bcautlluJ creek, wl11c!t revtved us with a feeling of delighted nrpnse by the pleasa111 coutra~l of ll1e deep V<'r<.lure of its banlc;.; with the parcht>d desert we haJ yas:ed. \Vc lwu sunered tnnclt to-day both men and hor es, for wa nt of water; having met with it unt once in our ltllillttlct ~mpted. march of forty miles, and au exclu ive meat diet create:-; much 1 rst. . " Las beslias tienen muclw lwmbre," said tlw you ng Spnuiartl itHJlllJ'IIl. gly; '· .Y lrt gentc tambien," said I," amigo, we II Ci.Http ll~rc." A stream oi goo~ aud. clcltr water. rnn '_vinuing about through tltc little valley, and a herd ol bullalo were (j liietly ft.'eding a lirt lc distallce below. l t w,l · quite a lnmter' ' paradi c·; and while some ran <..lowu toward the b;1.1H.l to kill one for supper, others collt'CtcJ bois de vaclte for a. Jl.re, there brinrr no wooJ · aud I a.m uscdtuy elC with llntlling Li.)r plattt among tlw ~ras~~ ' It Will ho .seen, by occa ·ional remat ks on the o-coloO'ical formatiou tlwt the constituents of.llw soil. in t.lwse rcgi~HJS are ggou, ~1<.1 every day .-drved to stre.ngthl.!ll the unpres ·wu Ill my muttl, collfinttcJ by subsequent obscrvatwtJ, that the barrcu appeara11ce of the eountrv is due a lmost ·ntirely to the ex~ reme dryness of t!t~ cJinwtc: Along o.ur routl~, the con11try l~ad se.r.mcd to lllc reuse constaut!y ll1 clevatwn. Acconliug to the indiccJ.twu ot the barometer, we were at our encampment 5 110 feet above rli~ sea. The ~vcning was very clear, with a fresh breeze from the sourh, .sov east. fhe barometer at sunset was 24.862 the thernwmetrr attachcu showing 68°. _I supposed this to be a tork of Lodge Pole creek, so far as I could determine from our uncertain means of information. .tLtrouomical observations gave for the camp a lougitnde of 101° 39' 37", auu lati tude 41° OS ' 31 ". 3 |
