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Show 82 ifeOM FORT BRHKJBE TO 0* BAT SALT LAKH CITY. dance, rendering this the . most interesting and delightful spot we had seen during otxr long and monotonous journey. Rather more than half- way between the Cafion of Ogden's Creek and the north end of this valley, a pass is found by which a croea-ing of the mountain into the Salt Lake Valley can be ejfected. The ascent of the western side is, for the first ftmr or five hundred yards, very abrupt and . rocky, and would require a good deal of grading to render a road practicable; but after this, little or no labour would be necessary, except to cut away the brush, which, in places, ip quite thick. The length of the pass is about three miles, and the Wght of the range through* which it makes the cut, from „ eight hundred to a thousand feet above the valleys on each side. The valley of Ogden's Greek, or Ggden's Hole, ( as phoes of thi* kind, in the nomenclature of this country, are called,) has long . been the rendezvous of the North- west Company, on account of its fine ravage for stock in the winter, and has. been the scene of stony a merry ' reunion of the hardy trappers' and traders of the " mountains. Its streams were formerlyfdll of beaver, but these have,' I believe, entirely . disappeared., Some few antelope were bounding over the green, but the appearance of fresh " Indian sign" accounted for their scarcity. During our ride through the valley we camd - suddenly on a party of eight or ten Indian women and girls, each with a basket en her back,, gathering grass- seeds for their winter's provision. They Vere of the class of " root- diggers," or, a* the guide called them, " snake- diggers." The instant they discovered us, an immediate and precipitate flight took place, nor could all the remonstrances of the guide, who called loudly after t^ em in their own language, induce them to halt for a single moment. Those who were too close to escape by running,. hid. themselves: in the bushes and grass so effectually, that in lees time than it has taken to narrate the circumstance, only two of them were . to be seen. These were a couple of girls of twelve or thirteen years of age, who, with their baskets dangling at their backs* set <& at their utmost speed for the mountains, and continued to run as long as we could see them, without stopping, or so much as turning their heads to look behind them. The whole party was entirely naked. After they had disappeared, we came near riding over two girls of sixteen ofr seventeen, who had " cached" behind a large fallen tree. They started up, gazed upon us for a moment, waved to. us to continue our journey, and then fled with a rapidity that soon carried them beyond our sight. |