OCR Text |
Show [ 174 J 110 ino\y in keepino. On tile opposite ,ide, the broken riuoes assumed almost a. ~ountainous ~ppearance · and, fording t be stream, we contiuued ou our course nmono these ridges, and encamped late in the evening at a little pond of very bad ~atcr, from_ which we drove away a _lJCrd o~ bufra!o that were tandiug in and about 1t. Our eucampment tb1s evenmg was 3,500 feet above the sea. vVe travelled now for several days through a broken auu dry sandy region, abont 4,000 feet above tllc sea,_wllere there were no runni11a streams· and some anxiety was constantly lelt on account of the un. cer~tinty of ~vater, which wa_s only: to b~ fou11d in _small lakes that occur. red occasionally among the hills. fhe dtscovery of these alw:tys brought pleasure to the camp, a~ around them were generally greP-n flats, which af. forded abuud:1nt pasturage for our an inmls; ami here were usual! y collected herds of the bu!l'cdo, which now were scattered over all the coutltrv in countless numbers. · The soil oC bare and hot sands supported a varie<l and exnbernut growth of plants, which were mncil farther advuuccd tll a 11 we had prcviuu ly found them, and whose showy bloom omcwl1at relieved tho appearauce or iClle· ral sterility. Crossing the summit ol' an elevated. aud. coutitluons l'a ll!?e of rolling bills on the afternoon of the 30th of Jnne we iound ourselves ~verlooking u l..Ho~u.l allcl misty vaHry: whero, abont ten miles dist:uH, aud 1,000 teet below ns, the South I.Ork of tile Platte was rolliug ma g nifi GCJJ~ly along, swollen with the v\faters of the meltiug suows. It was in strong an<.l re· t'reshing contrast with the parched country from which we had j ust i~sned; n.nd when, ut night, the broad expanse of water grew indistinct, it almost seemed that we had pitched our tents on the shore of the sea. 'fravolliug aloug up tho valley of the river, here 4,000 feet above thef'ea, m the u(ten!OOII of July l wo caught a far and uncertain view of :1fttint blue mass in tho west, as the snn sau k behind it; aud from our camp in the 1'borning, at the 1uonth of Bijou, Long's peak and tile neigllborino- moun. tains stood out into t.bc sky, grand and lntHinomdy white, covered to lhctr bases with glittcriug snow. On tl1e C\"ening of t'IJC 3d, as we were jonrneyiug along the partially overtlo~ ed bottoms of the Platbe, where our passage stirred up swanoo of mos-lllllt? es, ~vo came un~xpectedly upon ar1 Indian, wlw was pcrchcti on a blufl, curwnsly watclung the movemcuts of onr caravan. lie belouaed to a village of Oglallah Sioux, who had lost all their auimals in the se~erity of the prcc~dina winter, and were now on their wa:l up the Bijou fork to beg horses from tile Arapahoes, who were hnutin ) bnHulo at tile head of that river. Several ca.mc into om camp at noon; ami, a. they were hnugry, as usual, they were p-rovid<'d with l.ntlfa lo meat, of wilich tlte ltuutcrs had brought iu au abundant supply. A_bont uoou, on the 4th of July, we arrived at the fort, where Mr. St. Vram reccive_d us with hi~ customary kiuuness, and invited ns to join him 111 a fca, L_wluch bud been prepared iu honor of the day. . Our ammal were very much worn out, a lH.I our tock of provisions rnllrely e~hau~rc_d whc~t we arrived at the fort; but I was disappointed in my hope of obta.tmug relief, a' I fouud it in a very imp0veri:::d1 rd condition; and we we_rc ab!e to procure only a little unbolted }lexrcan fl our, a11d ·ome salt, wah a lew pounds of powder and lead. As regarded pro ~ i io11s, it did not much mutter iu a rolllltrv wltere rarely the da.y passed Without . eeing some kind of ~arne, aud wlicre it was frc· ljllelnly abundaut. 1t •''<l~ a rare tiling to lie dowu huucrry, auJ we baual· 111 [ 174 J re~dy leamcd to think bread a lnxury; but we could not proceed witllont antmals, an? our_ own we1:e ,not CGI pable of prosecuting the journey beyond the monntams Without reltel. I had bccu it1formcd tb?t a ~arge nulllber of mules had recently arri~ved at Taos, 1rom_ Upp~r _Califonua; and as our friend, l\fr. 1\.Taxwell, wa~ ab~nt to conttlme tn~ JOUrney to thn.t .Place, whrre a portion of his fa mily rcs1ded, ~ engaged hnn to purcll:1se lor me lO or 1.2 mules, with tltc und_ erstandlllg tl1at be should pack them witll provi ions aud other neces~anes, _and meet ~eat l_he mouth of the Foutai'ne qu£ bouit, 011 the Arkansas n~~r, to _whtcl_1 po111t I wonk! be 1~<.1 i_u the co~n~e of tile , urvey. . Ag11.eahly t~ hts own reqnest. and 111 the convtctton tltat his habits of hfe a~1d c~l.ncat~on had_ ~1 o t qu~lifled llim to cnchn·c ~he hard l_i i'e of a voya~ eUJ I dt chalged bet Lone o{ _my party, i\ ~r. o~;car ~arpy, havlllg furuisllcd htm With ~lt'ms a ~Hl means of tran ~ porta tiOn to Fort Laramie, where he would be Ill tlw ltne o{ CLI. l'll.\'tl!lS fCtlll'llillg to tile St .. tcs. :-\.t dayhrcal~, on the Gtll of July, l\1axwell wn on his way to Taos ; and a.J~w hours af t~r we ~I o_ had recot_nmencrd Oltr jonrll cy up the P latte. whwh wa cont_wuously_ timbered wtlh cottOIIWOod and willow, on a o-cn~ rally saudy sod: Passtng on the wny the rrmaius of two abandoned iorts,_ (~nc, of winch, l!owcvl~r, \~Us sri II i1~ frond couditiotl,) we nmclll.!d, in lOmile~ .• I~ ~~ t Lauc;aster, the tradtng esw.bltslnuellt of .l\fr. Lupton. II is pot-it was begmnmg to assu~11e tile ap pca 1 ~t1ce of' a comfortable farm : stock, !10 o-s, and cattle, were rlln~tng about or1 the }Jrairic · there were different kitJC.l~ of P?nltqr ; and_ there _was the wreck of a pron1isiurr garderJ, in which a ~onsiJcrable vancty o~ vegc t~blcs had been in a ilomishing conditiou, but Jt had been_ al m~>~t entJrcly rullled by tl1c reCl' llt high waters. I remained to-s_rend \\'lth hun an :1greenble lrnnr, a1Jd sat ofr iu a col d. storm of rain :vhiCh _wa.s ncco n1pan_icd wi~ll v~oten_t tuurHler and liglttni11g. \Ve encampe<l Jmrued_t~t r ly on the n~er, l G nH_lc 1rom ~t. Vrain's. Scver~tl Ara pahoe,, on tho11 way to the vil lage wluch Wrt6 cnca n.pecl a few miles above ns. ~Pass~d by ti_H~ carnp in tile co t_Irsc of' tl~ c af'tc~noou. Night sat in stonuy and cold, 'V tt lt heavy and co ntttluons l'UIIl , wllu..:h Jast<'d until moruiwr. July 1.-\\'c made this !HornitJn· an ~:arly stn rL contiuuino to tmv~·l 11p the Platte ; aud _iu a few miles frequent bQrld: of h~rscs anclt~ulcs, scatter~ for seve~·al lllllc~ ronnd abonr, indicated 0 11r approach to the Arapaho village, wh1ch we fo11nd encamped in a beat~tifnl ht)ttom, and con isting or a~on~ 160 lodg~. Il appeared c. trr'mc ly populous, wttll a orcnt nnmbcr ot cl11ld~·eu; n. ctr~:~nustu.1_1ce which illclicatcd a reo-ular supply 0 of the nw:t lls o( snbst~t<>nce. llw cll1efs, who were gathered together at the farth~r <' lld of thf! vll lnge, rece ived us (as prob:-~ bl v stm11gers arc always received to whom they dm-ir•! to slww re. pcct or re P~trd ) bv tltrowino- their an'Jls nround our necks_ and emhraci11g 11s. v · ::> . It reqmrcd _ome sk ill in hor etna11slt ip to keep the saddle dnring the performance of tl11s c·eremor1y, <lS onr .American i1orscs c. ' l1ibited for them the same fe~r they have for a. bear or any other wild a nilllal. liaviwr very 1\.:w ~r• ood•s Wl tl 1 me, I was 0111 y able to nHtke tl!cnJ a tueaoe r present :a:., ccoutll rtw Jor t h r· 1 · ' 0 1 c pm·c~·ty n tIt~ gilt by explaiui11g tlmt nry gootls had been !crt wli iL t le wag:ons Ill charge of l\lr. Fitzpatrick, \\'IJo was well kuown to them a::; the \Vl11te Heatl, or thl' Brokr11 lland. I saw herel as 1 had remarked in ill! Arapaho village the prcceditJo year, ncar the lod1rrs of the chiefs t'tll tnpod r h' . . . ' l · o w 1te poles upportmg tlterr sp ar-. aud slllclcL·, which ·howed it to be a regular custom. |