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Show [ 174 J 282 science and to history. vVc therefore changed our course and turn d the valley of the Platte instead of going do\vn it. ' e np We crossed several small ailluents, and again 1nade a fortified ca . a grove. The country had uow become very beautiful-rich in '~e1: grass, and game ; and to these were added the charm of scenery and 1 ' ant wcatl•l er. peas. June 14.-0ur route this .1norning Jay along the foot of the mountain over the long low spnrs winch sloped gradually down to the river formin' the broad valley of the Platte. The countr.y is beautifully watered. In J most eve~·y hollow ran a clear, cool moun tam stream; aud in the course of the mon.uug we crossed seventeen, several of them boing larO'e creeks forty to ~fty feet wiue, wit~1 a swift cm~rent, and tolerably deep~ These' were vanously Wl)Oded with groves of a pen and cottonwood, with willow che~·ry, and other shrn?by tr? s. Dutlalo, antelope, and elk, were frequent durmg the day ; and, l1l thcu· abun<.laucc, the latter sometimes reminded us sliglrtly of the . acramcnto valley. .we hal t?d at noon ou Potter's fork-a clear. and swift ~trcam, forty yards Wide? and ltl mauy places deep enough to swun our ammals; and in the everung er.camped on a pretty stream, whore there were ~cveral beaver dams, antl mitny trees recently cut down by the boaver. We gave to this the ~la~nc ~f Beaver ?~un creek, as UO\V they nt:c b coming snflicientlyrarc to d1St11~gursh by thctr 11amc the streams on which th ey arc (ound. In this ~onntalll they occurred more abmu.lantly tbau elsewhere in all our journey Ill which t1wir vc .. tiges had beeu ~carccly ccn. ' T~rc !lext day we continued our jouruey up the valley, the country pre. sentmg ~nuch the same. appearance, except that the grass was more scanty on the ndgc5, _over wl11ch was spread a scrubby growth of sage; but still the bottoms of .the creeks were broad, and nflorded good pastnrc grounds. ~e hacl an aninlated chase aft er a grizzly bear this monri11g, which we tnod to lasso. ~ncntes threw the lasso upon l1is neck . but it slipped olf, ~nd he escaped uno the dense thickets of the creek, into which we did not l~kc to venture. Our course in the afternoon bronght u to the main Platte nvcr, here a IJar~dsomc stream, ·with a uniform breadth of seventy yards, except where Widened by frequ ent i~la11us. It \va · apparently deep, with a I?odcratc current, and wooded with grove of large willow. fhe valley narrowed as we ascended, and presently deO'cneruted into a gorge, through whicl~ the river pa sed as through a gate. b We entered it, at~d fon.nd our ·elves 111 ~he New Park-a beautiful ci rcrllar valley of thirty lntles ~tarnctcr, \~ailed 1ll .all round with s11owy 1nountains, riclL with water ~nd Wtth grass, fnuged wah piue on the monntuiu sides below the snow hne, and a paradise to all grazinO' animals. 'The Indian natlle for it siani· lies'' cow lodge," of which our o 0 wn may be considered a translation; 0thc enclosure, the gr~ss, the .water, and tlte herd of bu(lalo roaming over it, naturally prescnttng t}JC Idea of a park. vVe halted for the uigllt ju t within tl~c gate, and expected, as usual, to eo he rd~ of buffalo; but an Arapahoe VIllage had heen b fore us, and not orrc was to be seen. Latitude of the enca~1pment 40° 52' 44". Elevation by the boiliJJO' J)Oint 7 720 Jert. It Is fro tl · , l d b ' · . Ill rlls c ovate cove, and from the O'orcres of the snrroundwg mouuta~ns, and some lakes within their bosom~5 tiJ~t tile Great Platte river collects Its first waters, and as 'Umcs its first ro'rm; and certainly no rivcl' could ask a more henntifnl origin. June l G.-In the rnorning we pursued our way through the Park, follow- 283 [ 174 J · · al brand1 o( tho Platte, and crossing, among many smaller JOg a pr~nfJ ·tream scarcely fordable, called Lodge Pole fork, and \Vhich isones, t 0 l~ke in 'the monrltains on the ri D'ht, ten miles long. In the eveu~ wnge sw ero cmn ca ampcd on a small ,s , tream, uca.r the upper end of the Park. Lati-de of the camp 40o 33, 22 . tu J:u ue 17 .-w conti.n ued our wa. y amono- the waters of the Park, over thde foot hills of the bordenng n10~H1tams, where. we found good pastnrage, a1: ·sed 'tnd killed some buflalo. We fel l mto a broad and excellent tra1t, surpn c ld . l d . l d by bufialo where a wagon wou pass \VI t 1 case ~ an , 111 t 1c course ma c ' . f . J> 1 . I I 0f tl Je mor11 i1wb ' we crossed the sumI nnt o. ( ' lU 1c \.OC <y mountaws, t noun- 1 L d rrh . 'l 55 which was one of the tnost )Cauti u \VC 11a ever seeu. c tnu f ~~1moncr the aspens, through open grounds, richly covered with grass, and e ied u~ ovtll' an cJevatiou of about 9,0 0 fe ' t above the level of the sea. ca~he conn try appeared to great ad vantao-c. in the d~lio-htful sunu~ICr weather of the mountaiu~, which we ~t ill contmucd to enJoy. Dcsccnchng from the pass, we fot-md ourscl v s aga1n. on the wc~tcrn \Vaters; an~ ha~lt~<.l to 110011 on tbc edge of anotlr ·r Ino~111tau1 .va.llcy, called the Old I ark, nt which is formed Grand river, ouc of the pnncrpal bra~10hos of the Colora~o of Califor11in. vVe were uow movins- with onw cau.twn, as, from the tnul, we found the Arapahoe villao·c had also pa.ssed nus way. As we were coming out of their enemy's country, aud tins was a war ground, \VC \~ er e de~irous to avoicl thelll. After a long aft crnooll s mareb, \v.e halted ~t. n1ght on a small creek, trihntary to a main fork of Grand nver, whte~ ran through this portion of tlre valley. T.h? appearance of the country 111 t.hc Old Park i. illtercstillD' thoucrh of a ddlcrcnt character from the New; Instead of beiug a com~;rativ~ plain, it is more or lc urokeu into hil ls, a~1d surrouudcu by the high mouutain ~, timbered on the lower parts with quaking asp and pin es. . June 18.-0ur scouts, \Vho were as nsnal alr e ~d, ~1w.de frorn a butte th1s morninO' the si rnal of Indian~ a1Hl \VC rode up m tunc to meet a party of about 30 A rapalloes. They ,;ere meu ancl womcu goiug into the. hills-the men for O'ame the \vomcn for roots-and informed us that the village was encamped a f~w mile above, ou the main fork of Grand river, which pa5ses through the midst of tbe valley. I made them the usual pre ents; but they appeared di~poscd to ue u n friend I y, aud o·,:tlloped back at .speed ~o the village. K11owin()' tllnt \Ve had trouble to expect, I desc~nded tmmcdla.tely into the bottoms of Grand river, wh icll were o vedlo wed 10 places, the n vcr being up, aucl made the b1~st encampment the ground afro!·dcu. W c .had no time to build a f'ort but found an open place among the willows, wl11ch was defended by the ri ~er on nne side ancl the overflowed bottoms on the othe r. We had scurccly made our few preparations, wh.en about 200 of t~~c~ ap.peared on the verge of the bottom, mounted, pamtecl, and armed lot \~a r. We planted the American flag between ns; and a short parley ended Hl a truce, with somcthiuo- 1nore than tile usual amount of preseuts. About 20 ioux were with tllc~1-one of tllctn an old chief, who had always been friendly to the whites. Ile inforrncd me that, before coming down, a council had been held at tho villao-e in which tlte greater part had declared for attacking u -we had come fro~n their enemies, to whom we had doubtl~~s been carryinO' assistance in arms and arn1nunition; but his own part~, With r 0 son~e 1CW of the A ra.pahoes \vlw had seen u~ .t 11 0 prev·w us ~ear• .m the plams, oppo 'ed it. It will be remembered that tt ts cu:torn~ry for t~ts p~ople to attack the tradin <r parties which they meet in this regwn, cons1denng |
