OCR Text |
Show 14 A TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS, 1,his, with a11 the other peculiar rocks an.d ~luffs of this part of the country, is com poSted of rock, s1m1lar to that of the "court house or church." It is nearly as soft as magnesian limo stone; thou9h not so white. Five miles farther there are a number ofll'regular elevations, called Scott's Blqffs. They. nrc about five hundred feet hig~. \Vhen the atmosphere •s. clcnr the Rock) mountain~ may be seen from the summit of these bluff'). \V hen I tnade the nscPnt the air was t?o haz.y ~o get a view of these distant mountains. Tho ma1n chain IS about three hundred miles from the '•Biuffi ." . The road leaves the immediate valley of Platte nver, and passes between t ~,,. o of the so bl ufr-3. F ro.m this to t h.e hlllacksmith Shop," a di ~ tance of twenty miles, thoro JS no water ul' wood, and very litt le gt·ass. flun.vy sand road part of this distance. . At the ''Shop" wo found plenty of red cedar timber and good wntor. Our cot·n was now nearly exhausted. and boing not yet replaced by gra~s, we were compelled to lea vc stock, almost daily. . ,-fh u rsday may 2nd. left the "shop," a.nd after tr~ veiling 12 rniles cl'ossed I-Iorse C!'Ct3k. about th11·ty feet w1de and two feet deep. In the nltcrnoon tl'avelled thirteen miles, and encamped on the same stream, Weather col.d and windy. Next day about 10 o'clock A. M. arnved at :Roubidous'. There is a black~mith shop nnrl stock market here. Exorbitant prices wero demanded for mule~ or horses. As an illustration, Mr. D. Hoover, of Da!ton, gave n pretty good horse and sev?nty-~ve dollars, for a rath!~ r. indiffi;rcnt mule. After leaving th1splace we traveled u few hours and encamped within. four n1i\cs of Ft Larlmtc. \Ve had here plenty of good wood and we.ter, and a little grass. CHAPTER IV. Fort Larimie.- Wnrnt !!!Jprings-.r~a. Bout Rivc .. -I.llnane8in•~ .a~ime~tone-An early stat·t-Fishinl( in Deer creek-Ferry o North Platte-lUiucral Lnkc8. Next mo1·ning (Sntut·day May 4th) we arrived at the fort. Finding we were going to be sho1·t of provisions, before getting through, we concluded to supply ourselves AND LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 15 here, with a sufficient amount, but being informed by the commanding officer, that this would be unnecessary, as we could get supplies at Ft. Hull, we concluded to defer the matter until arriving there. The reader will be fully apprized of the result of this determination. before we get through. Some messes got flour and hard bread, but not enough to "lust through." Ml'. Josep!l Stut·gis of Dalton, had been suffering for days, ft·om an attack ofacute 1·heumatism, and as his case was not likely to be 1nuch improved, by cold weather, and the jostling of the wagon passing over the cobble-stones in the road, I ndvisPd him to remain here, until he should gc:t well. This advice ho acc12pted, and arrangements were made before we left for his rec0ption at the Fort. In a few weeks he retu t·ned to the States. Sevet·al sol· diers we t•e suffei·ing from scu t·vy, b1·ought G>n by the want of fresh vegetables. They wet·e waiting for the wild onion to gt·ow, the use of which, would soon effect a cure. Afte t' leaving this fort we tra veiled twelve miles and en .. camperl ut the Warm Springs. 'fhe temperature of these springs is 66° Fuh r. There a l'e two ro~ds leading fl'om the springs! the left hand going by "f-lebt·ew Springs," the right neat·e1· the rive t· (Nol'th Platte.). We took the latte1· in OJ'der to avuiJ crossing the "Black £-I ills~'' which in rna· ny plnccs are. very steep and the road full of eobble-stones. Next day we travelled about twenty-five miles, over a very hilly, and tot·tuou:i road, and encamped on a c!·eek about twenty feet wide, and two feet deep. Good wood and water, and some gl'ass here. Next dny (Monday may 6th) we roached the La Bonte river, di3tance thirty-five miles. In the fit·$t fifteen tnile.-; we sta·uck Platte Riv€r twice, in the remaining we had neithet· wood not· watei'. It snowP-d the greatet· part of this day, and the wil"ld from the snowcapp~ d mountains in tho vicinity, was ratlter fresh to be corn fortable. 'fhe La Bonte is thirty feet wide and one and a half feet deep, with a rapid cutTcct. 1~hi.3 stt·eam is so ealled, ft·otn a hunter and trapp3a· of th~ sam~ narn~, whose companions were killed, and his wife Yute·chil-co-the (the reed that bonds). can·ied away captive by the Ara.puhoes. 'rhia happened at the fot·ks of the -st&·earn, while La Bonte wa~ alJ~cnt , on a trapping lour. His companions wet·e also |