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Show [ 174 J 134 and C.l Vl·t ·I Ze<l C01111r1o rt tllat IJ1a de a rare st·b .,'. l1t J"le r the tra veUer in such a ' remote wilderne,s. · l 1 d b... e osino- for · · I In common with all the emigratwn, t wy ~~ h c.en r. p I b 't slevet~ · h. d I' ·l tf 1 valley in order to recrmt t eu annna s on 1 s uxun-days 111 t ts e ~ 1 t~leir lonn~ journey and prepare them for the bard travel ant pasthurage a e~ t~vely s~erile bar~ks of the Upper Columbia. At the along t .? cfollll_PUI~te'tlsive bottom ~he river passes throngh an open caiion, }ower enu o t Jl::> ex ~ ' , ~ ,l 1 . .1 h where t1 w rc wel. e 11 l·cbr l1 vertical rocks to the watersI ec1glc , auu t w Ioau bo ro turns up a 1n .o ad vla lley to the right. It .w as a rc~c y n· car .1~ nn c• t; , ntt, . · 1 the river acr·:tin before moht, we coutmncu our mttrC!l hopmgt to rcl\nc I fitldt'tto- the r~~d tolerauly o~od, until we arrived at a point alona tile va ey. b • b · · 1 ] 1 · 1 wh erbe 1· t crosses ·tll,.'.". r 1·dge by an ascent of a . nnle 111 engtd ·1.1, w 11c .1 wal s 1so very steep ~nd difficult for the gun aud carnage, tllat we tu 110t tcac l t 10 summit until dark. .1 It s absolutely necessary to uescend into the valley for water nnu,grass; d wa c oblio-ed to crrope our way i11 tho uarktH'\SS dow11 a very steep, abna d mweo uwnetari n, reaoc hing oth e :-iver at a bo ut 10 o ' c Io c l~ · l t ~a Ia t e befo,r.e our animals were gathered mto camp,: everal of tl~use whtch were vcty weak bcino- necess~rily left to pass the 111ght on the n~gc; ::tlld we sat dow~t ao-ain to a ~11idnio-ht snpper. The road, in tltc mormng, preselltecl an am~ ated appcuranc~. \Vc found that we ila<l eucaruped uear a lar~c party of emigrants; and a few miles below auother party was alrc~dy lll motiOn. llere the valley lmu resumed its ustwl ... breadth, and.. tb~ nv?r f:>wcpt off along the mouutains 011 the western iLl<', tlte roa<.l coutmulllg ~trectly on .. Iu about an hour's travel we met ~everal Sho honee Indmns, who. tnformcd us that they belonged to a large village which had just come llltO the vallcv from the monntain to tlte westward, where they had bC'en ~mnting antelope and .gatl.lering scrvi~o berries. Glad at til? opport um:y of seeing one of thetr vtllages, and Ill the hope of pnrchasmg 1r?lll them a few horses, I turned immediately off iuto the plain towards thetr encamp· ment., which was situated on a small stream uear the river. . 'iVe had approacbed within somet!Jing more thau a mile of the vtllagc, when suddenly a siwrle horseman emerged Cron1 it at full spced,.tollow.od by another, aud another, in rapid snccessiotJ; antl then party a(tcr patty ponred into the plaiu, until, whctt the foremost rider reached n~, aU tile ·whole interveniug plaiu was occnpied by a mass of horsemen, wh1ch came charging C!lOWll upo11 US With guns and naked SWOl'US, ]allCC~, anu boWS and arrows-ft1dians entirely uaked, aud warriors fnlly dressed for war, with the long red streamers of their war bonuets reaclliug nearly to th~ grouud-alltnillgled together in the bravery of savage w:.1rfare. Theyi.Hl been thrown into a suddell tnmnlt by tho app(~araiJce of our f~a~·, wluctl, among these people, is regarded as an etnl>lem ot' ho ·1 ility; it beLng usual Y borne by the Sioux, and the ucigllboriug nanmtain Judians~ when the~ co~0 here .to war; _and. we had accoruiugly been mistal<on .tor a bo.d~~~d the1r enennes. A lew words frotu the chief quieted. the exc1tcnwut, a. the whole band, increasiug every uwmcnt in uumber, escorted us to the~r encampment, w I1 ere the ch" ief poiuled out a place for u to encamp, t1 C :ll' IllS ow11 lodge,aud made kuown cHtr pnt[lOse in visitinu· tho villag,e. l11 a very sh o r t tu. ne we purchased eight llor~e~, for whichb we gave 1. 11 ex chanhaoc r blankets, red and blu~ cloth beaus knives and tobaeco and the u~ual ot e art1. c 1e s o f lud .m u traffi.C . W' e obtali ued fro'n t them al~o 'a cou::;H• lePauL l e qtl Ull" 135 [ 174 J tity of berries of different l<ind "',among which service berries were the most abundant; and several ki11ds of roots and seeds, which we could eat with pleasure: as auy !dud of vegetable food was gratifying to us. I ate here, for the fir t time, the h:oo,yah, or tobacco root, (valeriana edu!is,) the prineipa edible root amoug the In eli~ 11s who inhabit the upper waters of the stream~ on the western side of the llHHllltnins. ft has a very strono- and remarkal>l} peculiar taste and odor, which [can compare to no othe~ vegetable that l am acquaiutcd with, nnu which to some persons is extremely oHcnsive. It was charactcrizf'd hy Mr. Preuss as tiJC most horrid foou he bad ever put in his mouth; and wlten, in tile evening, one of the chiefs sent his wife to me with a portion which she had prepared as a delicacy to regale ns: the odor immediately drove him out of the lodge; and frequ nt.ly aftei·wards he used to beg that whe11 those wllo liked it had tak n what they desired, it mi(1ht be sent away. To other:::, llowev •r, the taste is rather an agreeable 0~1 ) and l was afterward, always glad when it forme<l an addition to our scanty me~ls. It i full of tJUtrimeut; and iu its tmpreparcd state is sai<l by the Jndw.n8 to have very strong poisonous qnnlities, of which it is deprived by a pPCUiiar prOCeS .. , boim~· baked ill the gronnd for ahont tWO days. The morr1ing of the 2·Lth was disagreeably cool, with .tn cnsterly wind an? ~ery smoky wcatb.er. vVe made' a lat<' start front the village, and. regammg tho road, (ou wlticll, dnring all the clay, were scattered the ernigrant wagons,) we continued ou down the valley of the river, bordered by high and monutui11ous hilts, 011 wl1ich tlres arc SCC'll at the snmmit. The soil appear generally good, :dthonc)'h, with the grasses many of the plants are tined up, probably on account of the great heat and wallt of rnin. The common blue fJax of cultivation, now almost entirely in seod-on]y a scattered llow~r here aud there retuaiuiug-is the mo, t characteristic ·plant ot the ~car r.tver valley. Wltcu we! encamped at uight on the right bank of the nver,.lt was growing as in a sowu field. We had travelled during ttn;:· day~~ n11l~s encarupiug in lutituuc (by ohservation) 42° 36' 56", chrono- 111elnc lougttucle 111° 42' 05". . In our neighborhood, the UJOttntains appeared. extrenwly rugged, giving sttlJ o-r~ator value to this beu.utiful natural pass. .llug_ust ~5.-This was a elow1less but smoky autumn morning, with ..1 co~d Wllld from the SE .. and ;,t tcrupcraturc of 45° at su11ri c. In a few· nnles I noticed, where a little stream crossed the road,frngmeuts of scm·interl b7sa/t scattcn'u abont-lhe first volcanic rock we had sceu, an<l whict n~w becam(~. a cbaracleristtc rock aloug our future road. ln about sbc ~niles travel trom our erJcatupmeut, we reached oue of tho points in ou1 JOurney to whieh we had always looked forward with great interest-the famous Beer .\]J'rings. The sketch anuexod. will aid in iixillg your ideas of t.he place, which is a basiu of miucral waters euclo eel by Lhe mountain::., w}uclt .s weep around a circnlur bt'lld of Bear l'i v •r ' here at its most nortlt- ern poua, aud which from a IJOrtiJeru, iu the conr ·c of a few miles acquires a soutbom direclion towards the (,XHEA 'l' SAL'l' L \10~. A prctly 1ittle streanl of clear. water out 'rs tile upper part of the basin t'rom au open valley in tht· 1 ~1 ?un.tallls,.and, pas. illg through t!Je bottom, uiscllargcs into Bear river. Cto~:sl.ng tin~ st rea Ill, we descL'uded a mile l>elo w, ~tlld 1naclc our eucampmeut m a grov? o[ cedar immeuiutcly at the Beer spri11gs, wllicll, on ac~ crunt of lhe otiervl!~eing gas <!lid aciu taste, have received their name fron t le voyageur.':! o.nd trapper. of the cour1try, who, ill the wiust of their rnd • |