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Show [ 174 J 22 well a supper of roasted rib. :md bo1..1dins the ~f1rj d'a'/IV1'C of a rrame k Mosquitoe tiHoW~<) d abotll us lh1s ev'ttiiJO'; bnt by 10 o clock, ~~~e;l the tl10rmonwtcr had fall '11 to 'l7°, they had all dis:tppt>;.ued. July 3.-As this wa~ toLe a point in onr llome\\~(Jrd J~Htrney, I made a. cache (a term n~eu in all this cou11try for what IS lmldcn Lll til,~ gr<~t ltld ) of a barrel of pork. It was impos ilJle.to conceal such~~ pr<lC<'e•illlg from the sharp eyes of our Cheyenne compantot.ls, anc,' I therefore told ,t!le!l,l to go and see what it wa. they were burymg. ~hey woult~ otlH 1 wt.-.c h~ve not failed to ret um and de:t roy onr caclzr, m expertalwn of some nch booty; but pork they di~liln·, ancl !'?vcr ('at. .\i\~t> l?fL our ca.n~p at 9, rontinuing up the Sontll fork, the pr~:urH' bottom a!1orJillg ns :~ i<Hr. road ; ~Hlt in the lotJg grn we rou~ed myrtad of mo qUttoes at~d iltes, f1om whtch our horse~ sulferctl severely. The day was. moky Willi a pleasant. breeze from the sout h, allll the platns on the oppo ite side were cover~d will I buffalo. Uaving travelled twenty five ntiles., we CIJCattJ]Wd at o 111 th? evening · awl the men were cnt aero. s the n ver for wood, as ther~; 1 none her~ Oll tbe left banlc. Our fire' were partially IllUde or I he bois de vache, thv dry excrement. of the b11ffalo, wh ieb, like that of the cn.mel in. the Arn.bian deserts~ furnislles to the traveller a very goo<l snb'tilute {or. wood, burni1w like turf. \Volve in· great numbers stHrOttuded us dnrmg the night, grossing and recrossi t~o- from. the opposite l~&rO. to onr camp, and howling and trotting about Ill the nver uutd monHug: . . JuZlJ 4.-The morning was very smoky, t.he su1t shtnltlg dtmly and n'd, as in a thick fog. Tlle camp was ron ed w1tl1 a sal ute at daybreak, and from our sca111y stote a portion of· wltat our Judian friends called the" red fire water'' served out to the men. vVhilc we were at breakfast, a buffalo calf broke throno-h the camp, followed by a couple of wolves. In its fright, it had probalJly mistaken tt.- for a band of huf[Lio. The wol v_cs wore obligeu to make a circuit aronud tile camp, so that the calf got a little the start, and traiued every nerve to reach a large herd at the foot of the hills, about two miles distant ; but. first Olle, and tbeu auothcr, and another wolf joitwd in the chase, nntil hts pursll1'l'S amounted to twenty or thirty, and they ran him down before be conic~ reach his fri·~uds. There were a few bulls ncar the place, and one of them attacked the wolves, and tried to rescue him ; but was driven orr immediately, and the little animal fell an easy prey, half devoured before he w~1s dead. We watched the cha e with the iuterest alwa) felt for the weal<; a1!d had there been a saddled horse at hnnd, he wonld have farrd l>elte r. Leaving camp, our road soon upproached tho hills, iu which strata or a marl like that of the Clumucy rock, lwrcaCtcr described, make their appcarnncc. It is probably of this rocl that the hill on t!JC right bank of the Platte, a little below the junction, arc eomposed, anJ which arc woJ ked by the winds and rains into , }Htrp 1waks and cones, givi ng thern , i11 coutn.t. t to tlH' surrounding level rcaioll somet hing of a picturc~que npJ'~Car~lll~c. We crossed this morning rmmcrous beds of the small creek:-; w llich, in the time of rains and melting snow, pour down from tl:c rid ~e, bringing down With them always great <ltHllltitieS of sa11d anJ gravel, which i1avc gradually raised their beds four to teu fe t abov~ the level of the prairie, which they cross, mal<ing eac..'h one of them a ruiniatnre Po. Raised in this way above the snrroundiug prairie, without ally bank, the loug yellow and winding line of their beds resemble • a caus 'way from the II ills to the nvcr. Many spots on the prairie are yellow with sunflower, (heliaulhus.) 23 [ .174 J A~ we were riding., lowly :-don~ thi8 afternoon, clouds of dust in the :·avmes, ar~ong the IHIIs to th(• right, ~ucldettly attractt>d our altt•nt 1011 , and m a _few ~lllltllcs colurm.1 afrer column of bufi'alo c:une gallnpin!{ dowu, mal<tng d!lt'<.:tly to. t.hc r1ver. By liH' time tltc lcadtllg h1'rds had reached the watr.r, the prame W<l dttrkened witlt tiH' den~e musst's. Imrncdiatl'ly bdore us, '.vllcn the bands first.rame down into the vallt>y, ::;trctched an unbro.kt'IJ .1111<!, tlte he~td of winch was lost anwttg the rivl'r hill!' 011 the oppos1t~ stdc;. <lllrl still .t~~ry pomc<.J dow11 from tl1e ridge on our right. F1:om lnl.l to l11ll t.he prnme .bottom was certninly not Jess than two miles ~tde; aud, allnwmg til Hllllllals to be tell !er!t apart, ancl otdy ten ill a hl l l'; there w_cre ~1lready eleven thousand in view. Some idea 1nay tllu.:, be {onn<:d o{ til 'Jr tllnnber wlten they had occupied tltc whole plain. ] 11 ~ short tune theY_ SUITOUIHl<'d us on every ~ide· cxtcnclitJg for several n1iles ~n the rc·a~·, anJ lorwanl as far as .the eye could read1; !eaviug aron11d 11s, a& we ad\iatJccd, all open sp~~ce oL ouly two or three lnwured yards. Thi. moveOlellt of the bnfJa.lo Illdicated to us tlte presence or IndiatiS on tiH' North fork . . I haltc~ carlic·r tlw.n nsnal, abo.nt forty 1~1iles from the junction, and. all h~lllds .we1e soot~ bnstly. <'ngaged IlL prcp:~nng a feast to celebrate tile day. 1 he londnc>.ss of our fnends at St. Louts hacl provid<•d tiN wilb a larrrc snpply of cxc<'llent 1_1re crves atJd rich fruit ral<l'; anti when these wc~c add~d to a maccaroitJ sot!p, and varionsly prepared dislws of tiiC choicest bu~alo meat, crowned wt.th a cup .or cofle<', aud e11joyed with prairie appcttte~ :.~ f~l~, a~ v:e ~at lll l~nrbanc l.uxnry around onr smokiug supper 0~1, tll~ ~1as, .l ~1eat01 sonsatwu of e!lJoymeut than the Roman epicure at lns pe.rfnmed feast. :'Jnt mo. t of all It S•·cmcd to please our Indi.ttl frieuJs, who, m tl.t: ntii'C, tra111Cd etljoymellt of the tuoment, tkmanueu to know if o~1r "mediCIIIC days came often." No re~trainr was exercised at the hosp itable ?oard, a11d, to I he rq·eat delight of hi elders, our yonn fT Iudian Jacl made lllluself extre1ncl y drunk. 0 Om encamp1ncut was witltill a few miles of the place where the road cro .. s?.s to. the N?r~lt fork, <.llld variou re.as~tJs leu .1ue to divicle my party at this po~ut. 1 he North fork was lite pnuc1pal ohJCet of my survey· but I w_•1s dcs.tr~us t~ ~lscc11d the South ?r.anclt, wi1h a view of obtaining ~ome astJouomic.tl pos1t10ns, aiHl detennllllllg the mouths of tts tributaries as f<n a~ St. Vralll s fort, estimated to be some two hundred mile , further up the ." ver,, and near to Long'~ peale. Tlicrc I bopccl to obtain some nnde~, wl!tch I tu.nud would be. necc~sary to relieve my hor C ' . In a military pu11tt of VIC\~, I wa de_-uotts to form ·ome opi11ion of the coulttry relative to th,e establ ishment of post· on a line connecting the ·f'ttlcment · with the South pass of. tlte Rocky lllOtllltains, hy w:~y of the Arkansas anti the South a1.1u Larn.nHc ~ork · of the P latre. Cro ·sin a the country northwc twarclly fr~111 St. Vrau.t's fort, to the American cor~lpaJJy'~ fort at the mouth of La.ra.rmc, would .fTtve llle some acquait1tance with the rtfltuent, which h cacl u1 tl1c m~mntall)~ between tlte two· I therefore determined to St'L ont the tJ_cxl n1orumg, a ccmupaniecl by J\lr. Prcu s ami four men 1\laxwcll Benn.cr, .. A'yo~, a11d B.a~d Lajc!Utle~se. Our Cl~cy 'lll1cs, whose' vill.1gc lay up !Ius l!ver, ,tlso dccHl('d to accompany ns. l'bc party I left in charo-e of Clc,~ellt LamlJert. with orders to cross to the North i<.nk; au<l at so 1~e co.n:cnwut I~ lace, ncar .Jo the Cou/f.e de:~· Prfnes, make a cache of every th111o uo~ abs.oltttcl~ ueces~ary to tlte iurtlwt progress of our cxpcJition. From lh1s pomt, uswg the most guarded precaution in his m~rch through |