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Show 266 VALLEY OF THE CHUG WATER- SEVERE INJURY. Humboldt. The distance will not exceed one hundred miles; and the object to be attained renders it certainly well worthy of a careful examination. Should the result prove favourable, we have then a perfectly practicable trace from the forks of the Platte to the valley of the Humboldt, preferable in many respects to that presented by the Sweetwater, the South Pass, and the Soda Springs. With these general observations upon a route hitherto untra-versed, I leave the subject, and return onoe more to our encampment at the head of the Lodge- pole. The interval until the 6th of October was occupied in making an examination of the country to the northward of the heads of Lodge- pole; in the course of which we crossed the several sources of Horse Creek, and entered the picturesque valley of the Chug-water. The character of the country did not vary materially from that farther south. In several localities the ground was strewn with fragments of white quartz, and jasper of a blood- red colour. In the bed of the Chugwater, and on the sides of the adjacent hills were found immense numbers of rounded black nodules of magnetic iron- ore, „ which seemed of unusual richness. The Chugwater winds from side to side of a level, well- sheltered valley, clothed with abundance of grass, and is handsomely timbered with box-elder and willow thickets, affording covert for great numbers of deer, which were more plentiful here than anywhere upon the route. The valley is a favourite wintering spot for the Cheyenne Indians. While encamped on the Chugwater, I sustained a severe injury by a fall, which not only incapacitated me from mounting my horse, but confined me altogether to my bed until our arrival at Fort Leavenworth. This unfortunate accident obliged me, although with the greatest reluctance, to forego the projected reconnoissance of the valley of the Lodge- pole and of the Republican Fork, to which I had looked forward with the most sanguine anticipations. ft was a source of much satisfaction, under this severe disappointment, that the great pbject with which we left Fort Bridger had been successfully attained. An express was sent to Fort Laramie for surgical aid, and for an ambulance, which arrived on the 9th, and on the 12th we reached the fort. Here every kindness was extended to us by the officers of the post; and on the 16th we left our hospitable friends, the train being in charge, of Lieutenant Gunnison. Taking the |