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Show , [ 23] 108 · before venturing to cross the Raton. They told us that ~~~%~gwas very abundant; that they daily killen great numbers of rhe blark-tailed deer, common rleer, antelope, and turkeys .. T~ere js excellent dry wood here in great abundance;.the •stream Is l.1ned with groves of dead locust and cotton wood, whtch have been killed by fire or mundation. We were now clear of the mnch dreaded pass, .but our troubles still continu ed· the measles seemed to be spreadmg am0ngst my men, ancl alrea~ly four of them were so ill that. we had to lift them in and out of thr wagons. We marched 14 miles. Jantta1·y 15.-We macle an early start. this morn.in.g,,;nrl after a march of 12 miles we reached "Holes 111 the Praine, where we· encamped. As we knew that we should find no wood here, we brouaht a larcrc quantity from the Purgatory. Tl~e road o~T er which we travell ed was quite level, and entirely free from snow. We therefore reached our c:1mping place at an early hour. There we met Captain Murphy, who was conveying <;:everal wa<Yon loads of specie to Santa Fe. I told hi~ of the state of feeling- in New Mexico towards our people, and learne~ that he had already been put on his guaru by an exprt'ss, which he had met near Bent's fort. . . He told me that my mules were too poor to go through thts .tnp,. and cautionP.d me against the Arrapahoes, who, he saiJ, were then encamped near Chouteau's island, antl who had a great number of mul es that were branded with the letters U. S., which they refu«ed 1o give up. He also informed me that all the grass was burnt up on the prairies between Pawnee Fork and Council Grove. In the evening the wind suddenly changed to the north; it be- C(lmf very cold, and before night we had a snow storm. . As our mules were losing fle sh fast, notwithstanrling our feen10g them with corn every night, I determined to adopt Captain Murphy's plan, in letting them run loose all night. To· day another of my men was taken ill; his eyes were terribly · swollen, and before evening he seemed to be the sickest man in the party . _January 16 .-Although our mules had strayed off some distance, still we managed to catch them all in good time, and at 1 o'clock we rea ched "Hole in the ro ck," where we encamperl in the centre of an exten sive forest of c~rlar. Huge trur1ks of these . trees lay strewed around in all directions, and there was plenty o(goorl grass and water in our v.icinity. In a little time fires were kindled on ev~ry sid e; each person had one of his o'\\--'n to sit by; the d~n:o;e foliage of the cedar trees completely sheltered us from the wtnd. Could we always have had sueh a place as this to camp in, we could nevt•r have suffered from the cold. · Dur!ng 1~e I~ arch we saw a great many prairie dogs. Lain~ killer! 011 (> '.'nth hts rdle, but the bullet had ma .. gled the tittle antmal so t~at It was not worth skinning; this dog was so fat and looked s.o n~ce that we ha~l it cooked, but it se eme.d to be very tough, a!'ld tt h.Hl a flavor which was not altogether pal atable. January 17 .-Last night the wind ~lew very hard from the south, ; 109 [ 23] but we were s? comfor.tably si~uated. that we di_d not heed it much. This morning It was still blowtng With great vrolence, although at our backs; our mules travelled slowly,, and would not go fast. We saw great 'numbers of antelope, but ktllecl none. After marching six miles we reached a caiio.n called the "W~1lows," through whieh the '~Timpa" flows. I had mtended encamping there, but the wind rushed through the gorge at such a rate that our tents could not have stood a single instan_t .. We therefore proceeded two miles further and encamped agatn m a grove of cedar trees, on the mar-gin of 't he val I ey o f. t h e "R'1 0 T't mpa. " W e cou l d not find any dry wood and were obl~ged to use !he green ceclar, which made pretty good fires, and as It crackled m tb,e cheerful flames gave forth a delightful odor. . . . The Timpa was qmte hidden. from VIew, as the banks are perpendicular ' and about 20 feet htgh. Although a few cotton wood trees grew along the bot!om of the s~ream, t~ey were hardly tall enough to be s.een. The Ice was so th1ck that It ~as with difficulty we could obtam water for ourselves and our antmals. We found that it was not so salt as that nearer the mouth of the ~tJ·eam. January 18.-We left camp as the sun was rising. The air, alibough still, was biting cold. Our breath condensed instantly upon the collars of our coats, every part of our faces was covered with frost-work. Our road being level and in good order, we progressed rapidly. Passing a little to the north of the usual camping ground we encamped. Here we found a few sticks of wood, which had been left by some preceding travellers, and the greatest abundance of prairie sage, "artemisia," which burns brilliantly and throws out a great heat. But it consumes so rapidly that it keeps several persons busily engaged supplying the fire with fuel. One of my men killed an antelope during the march. Althougb w<, saw a great quantity of game daily, still the extreme cold deterred every one from hunting. · As we approached the three conical "buttes," which are t!escribed and figured in the report of the journey pursued by Lieutenant Pee~ and myself, in 1845, we found an innumerable quantity of foss1l shells of the genus inoceramus; the calcarious rock on which th~se shells are found is of a slaty fracture, and breaks into very thm sheets, which are covered on both sides with impressions of those shells. · ~anuary 17.--We had a long search this morning for our mules, WhiCh had wandered off to a great distance during the night. It was ten o'clock before we succeeded in catching them all. I now started for Bents' Fort, having given directions to my party to camp as soon as ·they reached the Arkansas river. I reachPd the ~rt at 2~ o'clock after a rapid rot over a distance of 27 miles. erds of. antelope abounded on both sides of the road. They T~re feedmg among the wild sage which covers the valley of the Impa. As my approach set the herds in motion, the startled hare would .spring up before them and dash across my road. H~ving reached the fort, I immediately made my arrangements '\ |