| OCR Text |
Show [ 243] 14 Onr lllarch to.day had l>ccn twenty-one mil es, nml the astronomical obf\ Cr \'atious gave us a chronometric longitude of H 0 54' 07'', and latitude 10° 26' 50". \V e were nw\'iiw forward at ·even in the morning, and in about iivc miles reached a fork of the Uluc, where the road leaves thnt river, and croSS(':S over to tlw Plallc. No water was to be found on the dividitw rid O'C and the casks were filled and the aninwls here allowed a short repose~ '1~ ~~ road lctl acr~ J ~1 high ;:u.Hl level prairie ridge, \Vherc were but fpw plants, and tho~e Jmnc1pr1 lly thistle (canluus leuc6graplws), and a kind of dwarf arten11s1a. Antdope were seen frequently during the morning, which was very stormy. Squalls of rain, with thunder and li <rlttnir1rr, were around us jn every direction; and while we were enveloped i n on~ of them, a 11ash ,. 1vhrch ·eemcd to scorch our eyes as it pn.ssed, struck in the prairie within a few hundred feet, sending up a colurnn of dust. . Gro·~i ng on the way ~cve ral Pawnee roads to the Arkansas, we reached , 1 1 about twenty-one nnles frorn our halt on the Blue, what is called the coa~t of (he N ebnrkn., or Plat t.e river. rrhis had ~ee n lCd ill the distance it ratwe of high nud broken hill s, l>ut on a nearer approach were found to be elevatio11s of fo rty t.o sixty feel, i11to wlti cl t the wiucl lmd worked tllc sand. 'riley wcte covered with the wmal fine g;rasses of the co tmtry and bordered th? <·aste rn side of tile ridge ou a breadth of about two n1ilc~. Cbuugc of sotl and country appea red l1 ere to have . c . prod need some ch;.u1o·e in the ,. •<rc- b b tntlot.L actt were n ume ro u ~, and all the plants of the rc~io n ilp ren.red to tlounsh amo11g the 'YiHIIl hill . An t ot~g them the anw1plta, in lull bloom, ""'•ts rernarkn.ble for 11 lrug<' a11d ltl xtmant purple clu ~l e rs. I• rom the fooL of th' coast, U distU.llCe Of I WO lllile' tlCI'0:3S tlte level bottO tll IJrowrht liS 10 our encampment on the shore of' lite river about twe11ty mil es l~elow tlll~ h tnd or (~rand island, which lay cx.tcudcd b~forc us, covered wi th dense an<l l1eavy woods. }'rom the lllOulh of the Kansa · accordinO' to our rcckonin <r l ) b ' b' ve tad travelled three hundred and twenly-ei<rht mile8 antl tlte rreolorrical 1. . I - o ' b o ornwuon of t 1e cou ntry we ltad passed over, consisted of lime and sand-stone, c.ovcrcd by ~h e sarne. ?'Tat ic deposite of sand a11d gravel which forms the surl~lCC rock of til ~ pram~s bet ween tlw Mi::>so tui and Mit-! ' is i ppi ri\'cr~; except 111 some occnsronal lrmestone bould er::;, [ hn.d met with no fos'ils. 1'l!e elevation of the Plitlte valley above the sea is lterc about two thou and !eet. T he a~tronomi cal observallons of the ni rrht placed us iu lon(ritudc 99° 17' 117", latir ude 40° 4.L' Uli''. o o June 27.- The animi~l -5 were som_ewltnt fatigued by their march of ycstcnJny, and afLCr a short .JO lllllcy of erght ecn mil e~ along the river bottom, J encamped ncar the head of Grand island, in lorwitutlc by observation 990 ''-)' 7' 4ro.: " , I att' t uc I e 40° 39' 3:-)..., " . '1'1. 1e so1'l I1 ere waos lr·g lt't bu. t rich, thoug' h in Rome places rather sandy ; and, w1th the exception of a scattered frinrre i..dono· the bank, the timber, con:i::;ting ~rin~ipal! y of poplar (populus 'IJWt~ilifera~ ~m, and hackberry (cclt~s crassifolta), IS confined alm0st ntirely to the 1slands. . June 28.-We haltcu lo noon aL an open reach of the river, which occuptes rather more than u fourth of the valley, here on! y about four miles broad. when they arc c~vc.rcd with dew, and collect the cotton from the pods to fill tl1eir bed~. On a~·count of. the sllkmess of thi~ cotton, Parkin~on calls the plan t Virginian ~ilk. "- Lowlon'.o.; EfiC~clopNha of Plallt!l. 1• The Sioux Indiau., of the Upper Platte cat the young pods of this t>lant boilitw them with t.uc meat of the l>uft'alo. • ' o • 15 [ 243 J 'l'hc ~·am r .had been dispo::;cd witt. t.hc usual prccatttion' the horses graziug <~l a Ir.nle dl::itam;e t~ltended by the guard, and we \VCre all sirri n~ quietly at our drnner on the grad::!, wltc11 suddenly \\'e heard the st;.utli 11 <r cry '' dtt ,,, 1 . b ' 'IJWtUtC . nan Ill ·tant, every ruan's weapon wu::> in his lw.nd the horses were d.rivcn ir•.' ho~>bled and picketted, and horsemen were gal!oj)ing at full ~p<: cd Ill tlte dtrcctlou of tlte new comers scretu nirw arHI v ·llino· with the . , I ) -, J b :WJ L1est exciteltlerlt. "Get ready, my lads!" said the leader of the npproach- Jng parry to lJ i!::l tn cn, when our wild.lookitw hun;cmen were di!:!covered bearing down upon thern; '' nous aLLons attr~pcr d(;s coup· de bruJLWtte ." T hey proved to be a small party of fou rteen, under the chur(re of a 111an named John Lee, and with their buggage and provisions sln~ppcd to theit hacks, were making their way on foot to tile f1onticr. A brief account of t~lcir fort unes will gi\'e SOlllC Idea or navigation in tlte Nf!braska. Sixty Jays since they had left the n10utlt of Lara111ie!:) fork ~onw Lhr •c lwndrcd miles aI J ove, m. . barg-es hulen with tlte fur' of th.e Ameri'c an l•'ur Contpally. 'l'hey starred wJllt the annual flood, and drawmg but 11iue in ches wntcr, hoped ro mnk ~ a spe~dy and prosperou.' ,·oyi1ge to 't. Loui~; IJut, nCter a lapse of for:ty tli~yt-' , found rlwmselve~; on ly one l1undrcd a11d rl1irry lllil es from their poutl of departure. They carne down rapidly us far as 1 'colt's blufls where dtei!' dillicultic~ began. Sometirn '8 they came ttpun places where tb~ water '.Va' spread over a great c' xtellt, and btre they toiled frorn mornirw untilni·rht endeavoring to drag their boat throu(rh tile sand:-: tnakin'r onlybtwo or tl tn:d 'l . ,::, ' 0 mr es 111 a~ many day:;. ~otnetirn<:s they wo1dd enter an ann of the ri ver \'-:here there Hl:>f>CHred ll. fi ne channel, and after descellllill,'.!,' pro~perOltSly fo; crght or teu lllll?s, wou!d come suddenly upon dry sand:;, and be compelled to retum, dra~g111g rherr bont for days agai11st the rapid culT nt; aud at others, thry came upon places where the water lay in hole:;, and •rettinrr out to float o[J' tltcir boat, WOUld f~dJ i1110 \VLll<'r up to tltcir lteck:l, an~J t!Je 0nc. t mOltlnllt tumble over aorruiust a Salldbar. Disco urnbrred at len,rth and finu inn' . 0 , h tlte P~atl e grow utg every di.ly lllorc shallow, tlwy di.'clwrged tltc principal part of then cargoes one hundred and thirty tniles below Fort Laramie which they secured n!::l well a possible, and leaving a f'w mrn to O'llarcl them, attempted to continue th eir voyatre, laden with some lio·bt fur~ and L • ~ ~ lileJr per:;o.nal lw ~~age. Aftrr fifteen or twenty days more stnag~· lir • g in th~ san~ls, dunng wl11ch tltey 111adc but. one hundred and forty miles, they sunl their barge;; tlllHle a caclte of their remaining furs and property, in trees on 1he bank, and packing on his bacl what each Iltall cou ld carry, hnJ commen. ced, the day bcfote we encou ntered them, their journey on foot to Sr. Louts. We luughcd then at their forlorn nnd vagabond appearance, and in out turn a month or two afterward furnished the same occa ·ion for nlCr rimcut to others. Even their stock of tobacco, that siue qua uon of a voyao·eur without which the night fire is gloomy, was entirely exhausted. H o\:cvcr' we s.h?rtcncd their homeward"'journcy by a small supply from our ow1~ provtston. They gave us the welcome intelligence that the Buffalo were abundant some two days nmrch in advance, and made us a present of some choi?c pieces, which were a very acceptable change from our salt pork. In the Interchange of news, und the renewal of old acqnaintanceships. we found wherewtthnl to fill a busy hour, then we mounted our horses 'and they shouldered. their packs, and we shook hands and parted. A1~10n 0' thern, 1 had found an olu companion on the northern ptairic, a hard~ cued and hard I y served veteran of the mountains, who h ud been as |
