OCR Text |
Show ~ '-.. ~ .... Q.. ...... 1'-, ~"' ,......, ~ ~ !!:::=================-------- 1 -. \ 35 [ 243] open hostility, and in the preceding antumn, his party had cncountcrec~ then1 in a severe engarrement, in which a number of live~ had been lost on both sides. United with the Cheyenne and Gros Ventre Indians, they were scouring t be upper country in war panics of great force, and were at this time in the neighborhood of the lled Buttes, a famous landmark, which was directly on our path. 'rhey had declared war upon every liviug thing which should be found westward of that point; though their main object. was to attack a large camp of whites and Snake InJians. who had a tendczvous in the Sweet Water valley. Availing himself of his intimate knowledge of the country, he had reached Lnmmie by an unusual route through lhe Black Hills, and avoided coming into contact with any of the ~cattered parties. This gentleman olT'ercd his services to accompany us so far as the head of the Sweet Water; but the absence of our leauer, which was deeply regretted by us all, rendered it impossible for us to enter u pou such arrangement. In a camp consisting of men who~e live~ had been spent in this country, I expected to fllld every one prepared for occurrences of this nat11re; but, to my great surprise, 1 found, on the contrary, that this ucwB had thrown tbCln all into the greatest cousternation, aud on every side I heard only one rxdamation, "ll n'y au1·a pas de vie pour nous." All the nigl1t scattrred gronps were a.scmbled around the fires, smoking their pipes, :md li:::;t eniug with the greatest ea1rerness to exnggcrated details of Indian husti! iti•!S; awl in the morning I found the camp dispirited, and ngitated by a variety of conflicting opinions. A majority of the people wc1e stJUngly dif.:lpo~ed to ret1m1; but Clernent Lambert, with some live or six others, professed their det ermi nation to follow .:.Mr. Fremont to the uttermost limit or his jourrwy. 'l'lw other.:; yielded to their remonstrances; and, somewhat a:::;hamed of th eir cowardic<~, conclwled to au vance nt least so far as Laramie fork, ca~tward of whidt they were aware no danger wa8 to be apprehemlcd. Notwithstanding the confusion and excitement, we were very early on the road, as the ditys were extremely hot, nud we were anxious to profit by the frcRhne ·s of the nwrning-. The soft marly formal ion, over which we were now journeying frrqll('lltl_v oilers to the traveller views of remarkable and picturesque l.wautr. 'l'o sc \·eml of these localities where the wind:;; and the rain have worked fhe blutl~ into clll·ions shapes, the voyageurs have given name' according to sornc J~mcied resemblance. One of th c:;;e, called I he Courthouse, we passed about six miles front our encarnpment of In t nig-ht, and toward noon carne i11 sight of the celebrated Chin~ney Rock. It looks, ut this di!:3tance of about thirly miles, like what it is called, the Io~t g chimney of a stcam-facl ory cstabli~::hment, or a shot-tower in Baltimore. Nothing occurred to int•rrupt the quiet. of the day; am] we encmnpecJ on the rjver, af:er a nwrch of twenty-four miles. l3ulfn.lo had become very scarce, and but one cow lwd bc·en killed, of which the meat had been cu t into thin slices, and lwng arouud the carts to dry. July 10.- We continued along the same fine, plainly beaten road, wl1ich the smooth surface of the country afforded us for a distance of six hunured and thirty miles, from the frontiers of Missouri to the Laramie fork. In the course of the day we met some whites, who were following alon~ ju the train of Mr. Bridger; and, after a day's journey of twenty-four 111 il e~ t!llca.mpeJ about sunset at the Chimney Rock, of which the annexed draw ing wiU rentler any discription unnecessary. It consists of marl and earthy I i me ·fo tH~, and the weather is rapidly dirDinishing its height ; which i~ UO\V not more .. |