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Show [ 174 J 288 broad road which follows the river, and on the 1st of July wo arrivctl Dent's fort, abou_t 70 J~iles below the month of th_e Fontaine·qui-boui~~ As we emerged mto vieW: from the groves on the. nver, wo were saluted with a display of the uatwnal il~g and repeated d1scharges from the gun! of the fort, where we were r~cct_ved _by Mr. ~eoro-e Bent with a cordial welcome alHl a friendly hospttahty, 111 the enJOY~lent of w~1ich we spent several very agreeable days. W~ 'verc now HI the rogwn where our mountaineer5 were accu_stomed to h ve ; and all tltc ~angcr_s and diificulties of the road being coustdered past, four of them, mcludmg Carson aoo Walker, remained at the fort. On tlw 5th we re ·umed our jour11ey down the Arkan ·as, travellingalon~ a broad wagon road, and encamped about tweuty miles below tho fori. On the way we met a very large village of Sioux and Cheyenrw Indians who, 'vith the Arapahoes, were r tnruing from the crossing of tho Arkan~ sas, where they bad been to meet the J(ioway and Camanche Indian. A few days previous they had llJassu.cred a party of fifteen Delawares whon1 they had discovered in a fort on tlte nwky Hill river, losi11g in tn; affair several of their own people. They were desirous that we shoul~ bear a pacific message to the Delawares on the fronti~r, from whom thcr expected retaliatiou ; and 'vc passed through tltent Wlthout any diillcultf or delay. Dispersed over tllc plain in scattered bodies of hor·emen,ana family groups of women and children, with dog Ira ius carrying baggage, au~ long liues of pack horses, their appearauco \vas picturesque and imposing. Agreeably to your instructions, \vhiclt required 1nc to complete, as far a.1 practicable, our examinations of the J{ansas, I left at tl1is ellcampmcnt!lre Arkansas ri v 'r, taking a northeaster] y direct ion across the elevated dividi11~ grounds which :wparate that river from the waters of the Platte. On tl1e 7th \Ve eros ed a large stream, about forty yards \ville, and one or two feel deep, flowing with a lively current on a sandy bed. The discolored auo muddy appearance of the \Vater indicated t!Jat it proceeded from receol rains; and we are inclined to consider this a branch of the Smoky Hill river, although, possibly, it may be the Pa·wnee fork of the Arkansas. Be· yond this stream we travelled over high uud lc vel prairies, halting at slnall ponds and holes of water, and usiug for our fires the bois de vache, the country beiug without timber. On tile eveuing of the 8th we encampea in a cottotnvood grove on the banks of a sandy stream bed, where there was wat~r in holes sufficient for the catnp. Ilere several hollows, or ~r~ creeks with sandy beds, met together, forming the head of a stream wlncl1 afterwar<..ls proved to be the Smoky Hill fork of the Kansas river. The next lllorning, as we were leaving our eucampe:1ent, a number_or Arapahoe Indians \Vere discovered. They belou<red to a war party wh1ch had scattered over the prairie in returning frorn an expedition agamst the Pawnees. As 've travel led down the vo.lley, water gathered rapidly in the sandr bed from many little tributaries; aud at cveuing it had become _a hand· some stream, fifty to eighty feet in wmtb, \vith a lively current 111 mall channels, the water being principally dispersed among qHicksands. . Gra~nally enlargiug, in 'l: few d~ys' march it became a river mgh~~ yards m breadth, woodod With occasiOnal grvvl~S of cotton wood. Our ro: was generally over level uplaucls borderi1w the ri vor which were clo c1Y covere d W.i th a sward of bn!falo gruss. b ' f)n thP 1Oth we entt·r~d again the butl'alo rauge w h •re we had found these 28U [ 171 J . 1 .. 0 abundallt on our o11lward jouruey, and I tal ted for a day amoui:' na.unuunJcut. ost ls s 1;erd..s. ' in order to make a provisi.on of meat su11lcient to <.arry s tn the fronttcr. . . . u A r· days afterwards, Wt~ encamp d, Ill a pleasant evonlllg, on a lug!t . e~ ·11.ie the strcmm being les than a hntH.lr('<..l yard::; broad. During n v N P 1 , nicrh''t we'' had • a sncce SJ· OJI' o 1· t Il llllL1 e r torrns, w 1. t I1 Il Oa vy aw1 eont.m u-tlJ(. .,9 1 ':ttHl towards ntonJiug tltc water suddenly burst over the banks folno so dI idn IgI ' th• e bottoms, and bccfoutu. Jg ~l I . fi . 1 d ·' d 1 :t rge r 1 tv_er, tve or SJ:C 1nu_~ reu ya 1 r ds iulJrcadth. The dark1tcs~ o th . 1:1g Jt. ~;H 1 u1c?ssault ra 1 Jn _1au co 1 ncea e from the gnanl the rise oi the wat~~ r; anu t lC nver Ho \c ll1to 1 1~ camp ldcnly that the baggage was tnstn.utly covered, and all our pcnshable ~~~f~~tion~ ~lmo t eutirely ruin ed , ancl tlJe hard labor of 1nany months destroyed in a moment. . . On the 17th we discovered a large Vlllacre of I u~lW. Il ~ encamped a~ the mouth of a hawlsouwly woockd str 'H_lll on the n~ht lm11k o( the nver. Readilv i11fcrring, from tl_lC 1wturc oi ~lte CllC<lltlJHUeut, tl w.t liJCy were Pawnee I 11<.]jans, and cou fldeu1 _l y ex pet~ I tug good tn!a tuwnt from a peopl_e who receive rcgntarly au unnn1ty from lite GoverutncJJt, we t;rocec~ded. <h-l) y to tile villa o-c where we fuunJ assembled nearly all tile I U\VJICC tnbe recI o ' . (' l A I I l 1 0 \\,ere now returni 11<' from til' erossmg o t te r can~a:-,, w 1ere t ley Wha d} ntct the Kioway and0 Can1a11elle ludl[l· .l~s. . \. \ t e were rce~I•V C(t1 1u, y th ern with t.IJc nllfrieudly rulleuess <liHl clmracter:stiC w. ·o l (~nre wiJ11~h l~wy ne~er fail to eli. pll'Y whenever they !itld an occaswn _for_<.lowg so wttlt nnpmuty. The little that rcmaineil of our go1)d::; was dt.stnlJnted auwn!.; them, but provcu cntnely in suni cient to satisfy thei r grnccly r_apn.city_; a11d,after sotne delay, and com;iuerable diflicult y. \\'e ... l_Lct.:eeL1cd Ill. ?X Il'ICi.l~J ng ourselve from the village, and eucam peel 011 t l1e n vcr about f.t I ~ceu ~udcs bcl?w. The country throno·IJ which we llall been travellwg :::>lllce leavmg th ~ Arkansas river, for a 0 di. 1 a nee Hf :2fi0 mile::;, present~cl to the eye only a succession of far-stretchi11g gn!tHl pru.iries, covcre<..l w1th the unbroken v~rdure of the oufialo gra. s, and sparingly wooded along the streams WLth straggling trees and occasioual groves of cottOlL\~ooll; but here _the countrr bcgau perceptibly to change its ?haracter, b_ecommg a n10re fertile, wood~d~ and beautiful region, coverecl with a profuswn of g1:asses, and watered wltlL innnmcrnble little treams, which were wooded With oak, large elms, and the usual varieties of timber conunon to the lower course of the Kan G nver. · - 1 · As we advanced, the country steadily improved, gradua1l~ assu~n atmg itself in appearance to the north western p~rt o~ the tate of M1ssoun. The beautiful sward of the bnll'alo gra~s, wh1ch 1s regarded .as the best 3:nd most nutritious found on the prairie , arpeared now only 1n patches, hem ' replaced by a longer and coarser gras ,, which covered the face of the c~nt ttry luxuriantly. The difiereuce in the character of t~lC grasse~ became suddenly evident in the weakened coudition of our ammals, wluch bega sensibly to fail as oon as we q nitted the buffalo grass. The river preserved a uuifonn breallth of eighty or n. hundred yard~. with broad bottoms continuously timbered witl~ l.arge cottonwood tree·, among which were interspersed a few other vanetles. --- • rn a recent report to tho tl<'}>fl l'illH' Hl f.r otn M <\.jO T WI tat· to n, ' :vl\0 viHilC'd tht•. PaWUCl' \ilia)!,~,... wt'll\ n 1\.\,l.l ttny forco HOme monthH alt·< •rwu'r clH, ·t l ·ts st at I'< 1 tl Hl1 th <· Indi••t nfi had mtcnd•c d to at•t a•. c1, our party tlurinA' tho nigltt we rcmainl'd at thiH encampment, but Wl'l't' pn•vt)nteu by the wtc~rpm. '.7 ttou. of the Pawnee LoupK. 19 • |