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Show [ 171 J 124 acteri'jtic, ~nd flax occurred frequently in bloom. We halter! at noon on the most western fork of Lararnie river-a handsome stream about sixtr fet't wide and t wn feet deep, wit II clear water and a swift current, over a betl compo.ed entirely of boulders or roll stones. '~here was a large opeu bottom here, on which were many lodge pole - lywg about; and in the edQ"e of the snr-rotliH.ling timber were three strong forts, that appeared to ha~e bePn recently occnpied. At this place I became first acqnainted with the yomprth, (anrLhum graveolens,) which I found our Snake woman en. gaged in digging in the low tir~1bered bottom of t~1e creek. Among the In. dians along the Rocky mountams, and more particularly among the Sho. shonee or . 'nake Indians, in who::;c territory it is veqr abnlldant, this i considered the best an1ong the roots u ed for food. To us, it was an in. terestitH! pbnt-a little link between tile savage aud civiliz L~d ltle. Here ~ ' among the Indians, its root is a common arficle of food, which they take pleasure in offering to strangers; while with us, in a considerable portion of America and Europe, the seeds are used to flavor soup. It grows more abundantly and in greater luxnriance, on one of the neighboring tributa. ries of the Colorado than in any other part of this regi•)ll ; and on that stream, to which the Suakes are accustomed to resort every year to procure a supply ot' their favoritt~ plant, they have bestowed the ll'lme of Yampall river. Anwug the trappe1s, it is <renerally known as Little Suake river; but in this rwd other instauces, where it illustrated tbe history of the peo. pie iulla bitillg the country, I have preferred to retain on the n1ap the abo· riginal nnn1e. By a meridioual observation, the latitude is ·1-1° 45' 59". In tile afternoon we took onr way directly across the spurs from the poillt of the mountain, where we had several ridges to cross; and, al· though the road was not rendered bad by the nature of the grour1d, it was made extremely rough by the stifl' tough buslres of artemisia tride11tata,· in this country commonly called sage. This shrnb now bega11 to make its appearance iu compact fields; and we were abont to quit for a long time this couutry of excellent pasturage and bl"illiaut flowers. Ten or twelve buffalo bulls were S<!en dming the afternoon; and we were surprised by the appearance of a large red ox. We gathered aronnd him as if he had been an old acquaintance, with all our domestic feelings as much awakened as if we bad come in sight of an old. farm llonse. lie had probably m::tde his escape from some party of em1grants on Green river; and, with a vivid r~membrancc of some old green fielfl, he was pursuing the straightest conrse for the frontier that th~ ?ountry admitted. \Ve carried him along with us as a prize; and, when lt w,ls fonr1d in the morning that lte had wandered off, I would not let him be pnrsnt!d, for I would rath er have gone through a starving time of three entire days, than let him be killed after he had snccessfully run the gaunt· let so far among tl~c Indians. I have been told by Mr. Bent's people of an ox born and ratsed at St. Vrain's fort, which made his escape from them at Elm grove, nea~· the frontier, having come ill I hat year witl1 the wagons. They were ?11 tbetr way out, und saw occasiomtlly places where he haa eatell and lam down to rest; bnt did not see him for abont 700 miles, when they overtook him on ~he road, tra veiling along to the fort, having unac· countably escaped Indtans and every other mi~chance. • The greater portion of our subsequent journey was through a region where this shrub consb· tutcd ~h~ tree of L_he country ; and, as it will often be mentioned in occasional descriptions, the wod a1·LernLSta only w11l be used, without the specific name. 125 [ 174 ] vve encamped at evenin~ on the princip~l _fork of 1\!Icdi~ine Tiovv river, 1ear to an isolated mountam called the Med1ctue Butte, whtch appeared to ~e about 1,800 feet above the rlain, from whic~ it rises abruptly, and was till white, nearly to its base, wtth a great quanllty of sno~. 1 he str('ams were timbered with the long-leaved cottouwood and red willow;. and during the afternoon a species of or!ion was ~ery abu~dn.nt. I obtai~ed here an immersion of the first satelltte of Juptter, whtCh, correspoudmg very nearly with the chronometer, placed us in longit_ude 106° 47' 25". The latitude, by observatiou, was 4 ~ 0 ,37' 16"; ole~at10n above the sea, 7,800 feet; and distance from St. V ra_lll s fort, 14 7 ~nd es. . . .flurrust 3.-Thcre was a wlute frost last night; the mornmg 1 clear and cool. ,.,vVe were early ou the road, having breakfasted before sumisC', and in a f~w miles travel entered tlw pass of the Mediciue Butte, throu<rh which led a broad trail, which had been receutly travelled by a very large party. Immediately in the pass, the road was broken by ra v_ines, and we were obliaed to clear a way through groves of aspens, which ge11erally made thei~ appearance when we reached el~vated regions. A?cord!ng to th_c barometer, this was 8,300 feet; and wlule we were dctamed m opcn111g a road I obtained a meridional observatioll of the sun, whirh gave 41° 35' 48" for the latituJe of the pass. The Medicine Butte is isobted by a !>mall tributary of the North fork of the Pl~tte, bnt tl~e mountaius approach each other very nearly; the stream ruumug at thetr feet. On. the s?uth tltcy are smooth with occasional streaks of pine; bnt tile butte 1t elf 1. r c~gge d, with cscaq;ments of red feldspathic granite, aud dark with pines; the suow reachiug from the summit to witlliu a few huudred feet o~ the tra il. '~lH~ crranite here was more COL11pact anU durable than that lll the fvrmatlOll which we had passed through a few days before to tl.1C ea twurd of Laramie. ContinuinlT our way over a plain on the west s1de of the pas:, where the road was tcr~ibly rough with artetnisia, we made onr evening eucampment on the creek ' where it took a northern directioll, un fa voruble to the course we were pursuing. Bands of buffalo were di.s covered as w_t! came down upon the pln.iu; and Carson brought iuto the camp a cow wl~tch had the fat on the fleece two inches thick. Eveu in this country ot nell pasturage ;1ud abundant game, it is rare that the hunter chances upon a finer animal. Onr voyage had alrc~ad y been long, bnt this w~s the first good buffalo meat we had obtained. We tra veiled to-day 2G rmles. ./:lugust 4.-The morning was clear and calm ; aud, leaving the creek, we tr~vclled towards the North fork of the Platte, over a plain whiclt was rendered rongh aud broken by ravines. With tile exception of some ~h_in grasses, the sandy soil here was occupied almost exclnst vely . by artenu~La, with its usual turpentine odtH". We !tad expected to meet Wlllt S0111C UtffiClllty in crossing the river, but happened to strike it where the~e wa_s a very excellent ford and halted to noon 011 the left bank, 200 mdes irom t. Vrain's fort. 'The hunters bronght in pack animals loaded with finP. meat. According to our imperfect knowledge of the country, there , houltl have been a small alllucut to this stream a few miles higher up; and in the afternoon we continued onr way arnong the river hills, in the expectation o_r Citcamping npon it in the eveuing. The ground proved to be so e xceed1 ~udy difficult, brokell up into hills, terminating in escarpments and broad ra.vuH:s, 500 or 600 feet deep, with sides ·o prccipitou~ that we could sc,Hcely fi11d a place to de ceud, rhat, toward· snnsct, I tnrnetl directly iu ttnvards the nver, and, after nightfall, entered a sort of ravine. We were obliged to feel |
