OCR Text |
Show 18 A'ot6s lJy the Way. very good, but not extt·a. Wood plenty mencecl. With kettle banging in the and Platte water for cooking. A ljght, fire-place, the oven standing jn front, drizzly sho,ver in the early part of the N o'v Eng1an<.l's historic ren1iniscences 'i€veniog. wore vi"\"/idly called to n1ind. The roads C 0~ J tbis afternooo w·erc in places very AMP vt, • ULY 18 :-Again was 0111• sandy, and a fovv hills. Traveled for road a long aud circuitous one, to avoid some !itne by the river, where the steep hills and deep hollov~·s. Roads bluffs can1o near the margin on either tolerably good, slightly Inixed ·with side, aud the chnn ne'l 0 £· the stream rough places. Passed son1e iron ore, and one ledge whore it lay in imlneuse runs narrow· and deep. Tho hills are ·quantities. Our n1arch continued until quite lofty, and in p~aces composed of -tJear sunset, and e-ven then a ver in- a red rock. T~rough this section ·different cmup o-round ·was obtain~d. clonds of musqtntoes to~rr1ented .the b tean1s, and rendered traveling very Irk- CaMP 38, JULY 19 :-Started on the 1 son1·e and disagreeab·le; in the evening road at an early hour. A short stretch I tho same. Left the Platte behind, -and of hard road, but for the n1ost !part are novv followino- the -course of the sandy and heavy. Follovved tbe river Sweet Water river~ Poor feed, but has valley throu~h the day. Grass sparse been better. and with erect. Passed throu O'h a sec- :tiG.n of low, swampy land, ~n which CAMP 41, J uLY 22 ~-l{oads to-day grass grew in abundance, but it ·was a 11nexceptionable-smooth aud hard.place to be avoided as a canlp ground, Weather cool, with a slight fall of rain .as the grass ·was poisoned by alkali. in the afternoor,. Passed between t\vo qur catn ~ is not in a very preposses- ledges of rock this n1orning, of son1e s1ng local1ty; grass scant, wood n1inns. extent. On the north side of the road Acres of brush called grease-wood sur- they appeared like a stone wall, in an round us on all sides. Can1ped quite advanced state of ruiu, or decay; on early; evening .pleasant. the south rocky bluffs of gradual slope. CAMP 39, SuNDAY, JuLY 20 :-M8ved Can1ped this evening by Grease-wood for,vnrd to-day in the vain endeavor to ereek, where feed is quite good; w·ater obtain a suitable camp ground to ena- passable, and fuel grease-wood and sao-e ble us to enjoy the "rest" of forrner brush.. At this camp the mosquito~s ~undays. We did not succeed in gain- have relieved us of thdir presence-\Ye 1ng one until near night, when we do not regret their absence. stopped near the Platte Bridge, amjd har.d ~rass and alkali. The bridge, CAMP 42, JuLY 23 :-Our caravan which lS nearly t of a mile in length started on the. w_ay a~ the usual tirne, is the first evidence of civilization \V~ over ro~ds Similar In a_ll respe~ts to have seen in Dlany days. Here the tl~o~e of . yesterday, w hie? con t1 n ued Telegraph crosses to the north side of unhl nearly noon, when It descended the river sotnewhat to a lower level, and vvas · . . very saudy. In tbe n1idst of this plain CAMP 40, ~ULY 21 :-La1cl by unt1l were several alkali springs and lakes; noon to recruit ~tock, and to perform sorne salaratus we gathered as a resuch other duties as were deemed memhrance of the spot. On leaving necessary. Near by stood a deserted this -vve entered a defile of the S"reet residence, in \vh!ch were _a fire-place Water 1nountains, a range composbd and other con_veniences. which. we had chiefly of grey· granite. Stopped at ::lot. Possession ~as Immediately ta- noon by a bridge crossing the river ken, and operations &t once com- near Independence Rock. This is a f./o tes .By· tit~ Way~ --~---------~---- ---------------------------~------------------ pile of rock, oval shaped and regular.· It is 600 ya.rdR iu length, an<1120 wide; the e:x;act elevation \Ve do not knoYv.Some of the party ascended tho highest point and unfurled the old flag to the breeze. From here we trailed between two ranges of these "rocky mountains," of ·which the river is the divide, and camped bet-ween thern this evening. Five miles frorr1 the river crossitlg, is the cut in the n1ou n tains, bearing the euphonoous title of" Devil 's Gate." We obtuiued but a passing glance, and are enaLled to record but the extent of our vie,v. 'l'he river rushes through this cut in a narrow channel. The sides a1·e of perpendiculat · rock, 400 feet in height. Tho appearance fron1 the road \vas grand beyond description, and it is a curiosity well worthy• of notice. Persons from the party that clin1 bed the range looked like mere pigmi~s, so far above us and t:~o distant \vere they. Camped by the river, with good feed, but no \Vood. places in this pas.si we were obliged to ascend a: hill deep with sand-pass· round the' m~)untains and regain the n1ain road. We ascended one of the loftiest peaks to make an observation. The rocky sides of the n1ountain were' steep snd rag,ged~ and vvith g1·eat di~culty vvas the top gaineu. From this elevated position, an in11nense tr·act o{ country \'las brought plainly in sight, clhrersified by mountains and plains ;'many miles of the river in its \Vindiug, snake-like cou·rse could be traced, ancl the snGnv capped peaks of the Wind River range seotned near by. The descent \Vas even 1nore djfticult than the ascent, lo\vering ourself feom crag to· · crag and rock to- rock, sotnetirnes suspended over a deep gulf by the bands. It is presum~ble that the feet of humanity seldon1 tre-ad on this isolated spot, and that the human voice seldorn disturb its elevated solitude. We regained our cotnpany tired but satisfied .. Y estcrday passed the grave of a man murdered on the 6th inst., by a person CAMP 43, J uLY 24 :-An occasional 'vho up to that time ·was his travelir•g sandy plain or hill, a few sections of corrtpanion. 'l.,o-day we passe-d the rocky road, and son1e sn1ooth places, to1nb of his murderer. He 'vas caught, made up the country over which we tried and shot the next day. Retributraveled to-day. In places ·we traveled tion ·was in this cn.se speedy and sumnear the mountains, and several times 1nary. The t edious, tardy, and too a glance across the country to the often doubtful.manner·of adn1inistering north, revealed snow in vieV\r on the what is tertned "justice" in the States, more lofty peaks. The 'veather in the has but few adtnirers or advocates on morning was warm and sultry ; at noon the plains. a storm arose, which chilled the air so that an extra an1ount of clothing was not uncotnfortab!e. c,unped in quite a ron1antic spot; the different forms of the mountains however, are about all that make it so. CAMP 44, JuLY 25 :-£eft cmnp after ~he appointed titue, and moved out 1nto .a broad level valley or plain, barre. n 1t. ' -\.,.as too' which we traversed for s1x ~1les, away from the river. Here the rtver aud the road. passes through a c.anyon in the mountains; the river bav1ng wa~bed out the road in several The road this afternoon was very good. A high wind blevv up the dust in a manner that did not contribute to our comfort. Can~ped this evening on a ]o,;v, wet~ swampy piece of ground, 'vhich emited a strong, disagt1eeable odor, flavored also by the perfume arising frorn the carcasses of anitnals within a fe\V rods of us. 'l,be vt'ater was sulpbury and bad; the feed, where vve are, scant and poor; while ·within a quarter of a n1iie below feed is good. 'l,ake it altogether, this is the most miserable location we have had the |