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Show 72 FROM FORT BRIDGER. i pect afforded from the Black Hills which I endeavored to de scribe in a previous letter. To the south and east, was the long range of Uintah Mountains, and far to the west rose the majestic Wasach. Through the valley could be traced the courses of the streams, by the growth of small trees upon their banks, and off in the direction of the Uintahs was the large forest of pines, cedars and cotton- wood, to which I have before referred. When beholding such scenes I would wish for a moment for the genius of the painter or the poet, but I would soon after thank God that I was not a genius in any profession. A few miles further west we come to the Little and Big Muddy streams very inappropriately named for brooks run ning over pebbly beds with water as clear as a crystal. At other seasons, and perhaps in other places at the same sea son, the water is not so clear, and as they were probably first seen by the old mountaineer Bridger when muddy, their classic misnomer will ever attach to them. Not far from the Muddies there is a mineral spring, the waters of which is strongly impregnated with magnesium, and contains also other mineral properties, and is of a very low temperature. There we encamped for the night. The next day our journey lay over a more uneven country, and we passed Quaking- asp Hill, the highest elevation crossed by the stage- road between the Missouri River and Salt Lake, and I am told has an altitude of more than eight thousand feet. The hill derives its name from a species of poplar which grows on the summit, the leaves of which have a constant tremulous motion in the wind. From the brow of the hill there is considerable descent, within the distance of a mile, and thence onward we found a succession of hills and mountains, either to be crossed in our journey or con tiguous to the road. Beyond Quaking- asp the next sight that attracted my attention was that of the worm fences and cultivated fields on Bear River. I had seen nothing of the kind west of Kansas, and I was carried back in my re collection to the farms of old Virginia and Maryland, and was led to a contemplation of the undeveloped agricultural |