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Show [ 174 J 160 Shortly afterwaH~s W<' nJet a~1 [nd~an ?n h~rsebaek who haci killed all t l \vlll.ch we purchnsPd lrom htm for :t ltttle powder and some balls. uu e ope, I I f b J I I . \V c crossed the Ro::jeaux, and encamped on t 1e e t an {; 1a tin~ early for the pleasure of enjoying a whole:ome nnd abun(~ant upp er~ anti were pleas. antly engaged in protracting our un~ ual c.omlort, when fa bcau g:llloped into the camp witb news that 1\fr. I•nzpatr:1ck was e~campc<l close by u, with a gootl supply of provisio.ns--llour, nee, and dncd meat, and even a little butter. Excitement to-n1ghtlllade us all wakeful; and alter a break. fast before sunrise the next moming, we were ngain on the road, and,Jn· ti1win~ up the valley, crossed some high p~inL of hit! ~, and. ha lted to on on the same stream, near sevcl'al lod~es of nakc l nd~an s, from whom we purchased about a bushel of ?ervice l>enies, pnrtially dried. By the gif~ of a knife l pre,·ailed upon a little boy to sho·w me the lroo.lJah plant, whtch proved' to be valeriana erlulis. Tbe r.oot, which eons;t.itt~tes the !roo yah, is large of a vr.ry britrht yellow color, wtth the rharnrtenst1c odor, but not so fully 'developed as in the prepared suo tance. It lorcs the rich nwi t soil of river bottoms, which was the Jocdlity in whi ·hI always afterwards found it. Jt was now entirely out of bloom; according to my obsen'atio n, flower· ing in lhc months of 1\fay and June. In the afternoon we ellt )red a long rav~ne Jr.adin~ to a pnss in the dividinp; ridge between the waters of Bear river and the Snake river, or Lewis'' fork of the Columbia ; our way being very much impeded, nnd almost entirely blocked up, by compnct fields of luxuriant artcmi ia. Taking leave at this point of the water of I3ear r~ver, and of the geographical basin which encloses the sy~tcm of rivers and rrccks which belon 1 " to the Great Salt Lake, ancl w hie h so rich I y d<'sr 1 ves a future detailed and ample exploration, I can say of it, in general tet m , that the bottoms of this river, (Bear,) and of some oft he creeks which I saw, fol'ln a natural resting and recruiting station for travellers, now, and in nil time to come. The bottoms arc extensive; water excellent; timb<'r sufficient; the soil good, and well adapted to tile grains and gra t-:cs t~uitcd to such an elev~ted re~io11. A military po t, and a civilized settlement, would be of great value here; and cattle and horses would do well where gn15 and salt so much abonnd. The lake will funli h exhau~tle s upplies of salt. All the mountain sides here are covcre{J with a valuable nutritio11s crrass, called bunrh O'rass, from the form in which it crrows which ha a ~ <'~ond ~rowth in the fall. . The beasts ol the Jndians ~vere f'at upon it; our own found it · a good 8~bs1stcnce; and its quantity will sustain any amount of cattle, and make tlus truly a bucolic region. ~ e met h~re an Indian family on horseback, which had been out to g.Hhcr serv1ce ~rrnes, and were returning loaded. This tree was scattered about on the hills; and the upper part of the pass was timbered with aspen; (J>Op· ~.t!us lrem.,) the common blue flowering flax occurring among the plants. I he approach to the pass was very steep; and the sumttlit about 6,300 fee~ above th~ sc~t-probauly only an uncertain approximation, as at the timc.ol observ~twn 1t wa~ ulowing a violent gale ol ,vind from the northwest, wtth cumult scattered 1n masses over the sky the day other wise bricTht and clear. We des <'~en de d' bY a steep slope w· to a 'b road OJ)en valley-cro0o d soi• l; fr om four t.o fn :•e ·1 · .1 · ' ~ ' d tnl ~s wrue; ~om1ng down immediately upon one of the ,1ea • ~oler 8 of the Panna<·k nver which here losrs it elf in swampy ground. _fhc appearance of the count1~y here is not very interest ing. On either side 18 a regular range of mountains of the usual character with a little timb~r, tolerably roe:ky on the right, and higher and more smo'oth on the Jeft, wtth 161 [ 174 ] still higher pcalts looki n~ out abo~e the range. The valley a/forded a good level road· but it was late when It brought us to water, and we encamped at dark. The northwest wind had blown up very cold weather, and the artemisia which was our fire wood to-night, did not happen to be very abuntlant~ This plant lovf'S a dry, sandy soil, and c~nnot gr~w in the good bottoms where it is rich aud moist, but on every little emmencc, where water docs not rest long, it maiutains absolute possession. Elevation above the sea about 5,100 feet. At night scattered fit·cs glimmered along the mo~mtains, ~oi~tin~ ?ut camps of the J ndians; and we contr~stcd the compar~tt.ve seeunty m whiCh we travelled through this country, wtth the <r uar~ e d v1gtlance we W(' r e. compelled to exert among the Sioux and other Indtans 011 the eastern stde of the Rocky mountains. At sunset the thermometer was at 50°, and at midnigh t at 30°. September 17.- The morning Icy was calm and clear, the temperature at daylight bein()' 25° and nt sunrise 20°. There is throughout th is mountain country a r~marl~ablo dill'crcncc between the morning and midday temperatures, which at this season was very generally 40° or 50°, and o:-casionally greater; and frequ e11 tly, after a very frosty morning:, the hea t 111 a few hours would render the thinnest clothing agreeable. About noon we reached the main fork. 'The Pannack 1 iver was oeforc us; the va lley being here 1 .~ mile wide, fertile, and bordered by smooth hilts, not over 500 feet high, partly · covered '"'·ith cedar; a high ridge, in whi ell there is a prominent peak, rising behind those on the left. vVc continued to descend this stream, and found on it at nicrht a warm and cumfortablc camp. Flax occur red . o f, equently during the day as to be almost a charnctc1 istic, and the soil appeared excellent. The opposite hills on the t· i~ht arc broken here inlo a grca tv a ric ty of shapt' ~' . The cveni ng was ~ust y, with a temperature at , unset of 59°. I obtain ed ~ about midnight, an obsr.rva tion of an emersion of the first satellite; tbe nio·ht beinp; calm nnd very clear, the sta rs remarkably bright, and the thenn~meler at 30°. Longitude, from mean of satcllit.e and chronorueter, 1 U~0 29' [)2 '' ; and la titude, by obscn·ation, :13o 44' 40'', September 18.- The day clear and calm, with a temperature of 251 at sunrise. After travrlling scvc·n or ei~ht miles, we r tuerf;ed on the plains of the Columbia, in sight of the falllous " Tltree Buttes,'' a well-known landmark in the country disbnt about t15 miles. Tile Ft cnch word butte, which so often oecur~ in this na nati vc, is retained from the familiar language of the c•ountrv, and identiflcil the objects to wh ich it refers. It is naturalized in tbc re-gion of the Hoeky mour~tains; nnd, even if desirable to render it in Enc)'lish, l know of no word which would ue its precise equivalent. Jt i~ apJ~licd to the deta<.:hcd hill~ and ridges wbicl1 rise abruptly., anu reach too high to lJc call< d hills or rid~cs, and not hi~h enollgh to be called mountains. J{nui.J, ,\S applicu in the wcste•:n States, is their most descriptive te1 n in En"Ji ·h. Cerro is the .. pan1sh term; but no translation, or paraphra..,is, wo.1ld JH'eSJn'e the identity of these pic tu resque landmarks, familiar to the tt avcllcr, and often seen at a great distance. Covc.re<.l as far as could oc seen with artemisia, the da1 k and ugly appearance of th1s plain obtained for it tt1e name of lhc Sage J)esert; and we we re agreeabl~ surprised, on renching the Portneuf river, to sec a beautiful green va.llcy \~lth scattered timuer spread out ueneath us, on whi<'h, about four nules dtstant, wea·e glistening the white walls of the fort. The Portneuf 11 |