Chapter III: {i}18 (7)

[103] _Castor fiber._—Some of the European naturalists appear to be in doubt, whether or not the beavers of Europe are of the same species with ours, from the circumstance of the former not erecting habitations for themselves, thus appearing to differ at least in habit, from the North American, (which are usually but improperly called, Canada beaver, as they are not confined to Canada, but are found far south in the United States, and east to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi,) but it is possible, that the aboriginal manners of the European beavers, corresponded with those of ours, and that necessity, resulting from the population of the country by civilized man, compelled them to resort to a different mode of life, to escape the certain destruction, with which the great demand for their fur threatened them. But as the European beaver is smaller than ours, other naturalists have regarded it as a distinct species. In those districts of country of North America, from which they have not yet been exterminated, and which are populated by the whites, as particularly on the Mississippi, above the Ohio, and below St. Louis, we have not heard that they build, but it is more than probable, that, as in Europe, they change their mode of life, in order to be the more effectually concealed from view. From subsequent observation, we have learned, that the beaver does not attempt to dam large streams, perceiving at once the impracticability of the undertaking: his object in damming a stream appears to be, to preserve a constancy in the height of the water, in order that the entrance to his habitation in the bank may be concealed, and that the curious conical edifice may not be destroyed by a sudden flood, or too much exposed by a deficiency of water.

An Indian informed us, that in his time, he has caught three specimens of this animal, that had each a large white spot on the breast. Singular accounts of this animal are given us by the hunters, but which we had no opportunity of verifying.

Three beavers were seen cutting down a large cotton-wood tree; when they had made considerable progress, one of them retired to a short distance, and took his station in the water, looking steadfastly at the top of the tree. As soon as he perceived the top begin to move towards its fall, he gave notice of the danger to his companions, who were still at work, gnawing at its base, by slapping his tail upon the surface of the water, and they immediately ran from the tree out of harm's way.

The spring beaver are much better for commerce than those of the autumn and early winter, as the fur is longer and more dense. But the beaver taken in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains is almost equally good during the year.

Mr. Frazer, a gentleman who has been several years engaged in the fur trade, in the interior of North America, on the Columbia, and in North California, in speaking of the beaver, mentioned a circumstance, which we do not remember to have seen recorded. The lodges are usually so placed, that the animals ascend the stream some distance to arrive at the spot whence they procure their food. They make their excursions under water, and they have, at equal distances, excavations under the bank, called _washes_, into which they go and raise their heads above the surface, in order to breathe, without exposing themselves to be seen. In winter the position of these washes is ascertained, by the hollow sound the ground returns when beaten; and the beavers are sometimes taken, by being pursued into these holes, the entrances to which are afterwards closed.

Otters are frequent on the Missouri. We had an opportunity of seeing on the ice of Boyer Creek a considerable number of the tracks or paths of otters; they were the more readily distinguishable, from there being snow of but little depth on the ice, and they appeared as if the animal was accustomed to slide in his movements on the ice, as there were, in the first place, the impressions of two feet, then a long mark clear of snow a distance of three or four feet, then the impressions of the feet of the animal, after which the sliding mark, and so on alternately. These paths were numerous, and passed between the bank and a situation, where a hole had been in the ice, now frozen over.—JAMES.

From the limited information communicated to the public, on the subject of Mr. Hunt's Expedition to the mouth of the Columbia, commenced in the year 1811, it appears that a part of the men engaged in that undertaking, in their return from the Pacific, crossed the Rocky Mountains from some one of the upper branches of Lewis' river, and falling upon the sources of the north fork of the Platte, descended thence to the Missouri.

{152} On the 28th of June, 1812, Mr. Robert Stewart, one of the partners of the Pacific Fur Company, with two Frenchmen, M'Clellan, and Crooks, left the Pacific ocean with despatches for New York.

Having proceeded about seven hundred miles, they met Mr. Joseph Miller, on his way to the mouth of the Columbia. He had been considerably to the south and east, and had fallen in with the Black-arms, and the Arrapahoes, who wander about the sources of the Arkansa. By the latter of these he had been robbed, in consequence of which he was now reduced to starvation and nakedness.

Mr. Stewart and his companions had fifteen horses, but soon afterwards met with a band of the Crow Indians, near the Rocky Mountains, who behaved with the most unbounded insolence, and finally stole every horse belonging to the party.

They now found themselves on foot, with the Rocky Mountains, and a journey of two thousand miles before them; fifteen hundred of which was through a country wholly unknown, as their route lay considerably to the south of that of Lewis and Clarke.

Putting the best face upon their prospects, they pursued their journey towards the Rocky Mountains, travelling east-south-east, until they struck the "head waters of the great river Platte," which they followed to its mouth, having spent the winter upon it, six hundred miles from the Missouri.[104]

[104] The narrative from which this sketch is taken, was published in the Missouri Gazette.—JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ The article in the _Missouri Gazette_ is reprinted in Bradbury's _Travels_, volume v of our series, Appendix III, p. 224. An account of Hunt's expedition and sketches of the partners of the Pacific Fur Company, mentioned in the text, will be found in the same volume, notes 2, 3, 72, 119.

The confluence of the north fork and the Platte is, according to our estimate of distances, one hundred and forty-nine miles by our courses, from the Pawnee Loup village.

Some of the upper branches of the Wolf river head about thirty miles to the north of this point.

After fording the north fork, we crossed a narrow point of low prairie to the Platte, where, as it was {153} now near night, we resolved to encamp, and attempt the passage of the river on the following day.[105]

[105] The town of North Platte is now situated on this tongue of land between the forks of the Platte; and recently a family named Peale, relatives of T. R. Peale of Long's party, were among the residents.—ED.

Our view of the opposite margin of the Platte, during this day's march, had been intercepted by an elevated swell of the surface, which extended along, parallel to the river, that we were now approaching. Immediately upon surmounting this undulation we saw before us, upon the broad expanse of the left margin of the river, immense herds of bisons, grazing in undisturbed possession, and obscuring, with the density of their numbers, the verdant plain; to the right and left, as far as the eye was permitted to rove, the crowd seemed hardly to diminish, and it would be no exaggeration to say, that at least ten thousand here burst on our sight in the instant. Small columns of dust were occasionally wafted by the wind from bulls that were pawing the earth, and rolling; the interest of action was also communicated to the scene, by the unwieldy playfulness of some individuals, that the eye would occasionally rest upon, their real or affected combats, or by the slow or rapid progress of others to and from their watering places. On the distant bluffs, individuals were constantly disappearing, whilst others were presenting themselves to our view, until, as the dusk of the evening increased, their massive forms, thus elevated above the line of other objects, were but dimly defined on the skies. We retired to our evening fare, highly gratified with the novel spectacle we had witnessed, and with the most sanguine expectations of the future.

In the morning we again sought the living picture, but upon all the plain which last evening was so teeming with noble animals, not one remained. We forded the Platte with less delay and difficulty than we had encountered in crossing the north fork.

It is about nine hundred yards wide, and very rapid, but so shoal that we found it unnecessary to dismount from our horses, or to unpack the mules. {154} We found the plains on the south side of the Platte more closely depastured than those we had before seen. The grass is fine and short, forming a dense and matted turf, as in the oldest pastures.

Meeting with wood at about three o'clock P. M., we resolved to encamp. On the two preceding evenings, we had found it difficult to collect as much wood as sufficed to kindle a fire, which was afterwards kept up with the dung of the bison, though not without some difficulty, as the weather was rainy.

The dung of the bison is used as fuel in many parts of the woodless country southwest of the Missouri, by the Indians, and by hunters, who often encamp where no wood is to be found. We learn from Sonnini[106] and others, that the excrement of the camel, mixed with chopped straw and afterwards dried, is similarly used in the woodless parts of Egypt.

[106] Charles Nicholas Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt was a French naturalist and traveller, who visited Egypt, Greece, and Asia Minor during the years 1777-80. He lost his fortune by the Revolution, and spent the remainder of his life in writing and editing scientific works. The book here referred to is _Voyage dans la haute et dans le basse Egypt_ (Paris, 3 vols., 1799). It was twice translated into English.—ED.

The hills on the south side of the Platte, above the confluence of the north fork, become more abrupt and elevated, approaching in character those of the Missouri which are destitute of stone. There is here the same transcript of Alpine scenery, in miniature, which constitutes so striking a feature in the Missouri landscape, when viewed from the river bottom.

We had no sooner crossed the Platte, than our attention was arrested by the beautiful white primrose (œnothera pinnatifida, N.) with its long and slender corolla reclining upon the grass. The flower, which is near two inches long, constitutes about one-half of the entire length of the plant.[107]

[107] Considerable additions were made, about the forks of the Platte, to our collections of plants. We found here, among others, the Pentstemon cristatum, N. Coronopus dydima, Ph. Evolvulus Nuttallianus, Roemer, and Shultz. Orobus dispar, Cleome tryphilla, Petalostemon candidum, Ph., and P. violaceum. Aristida pallens, N. two species of a genus approximating to Hoitzia, several species of Astragalus, and many others.—JAMES.

The valley of the Platte, above the forks, is much narrower, and a little more irregular in direction than below, and is frequently interrupted by small hills running in towards the river. On ascending these hills, we found them of a coarse sand, and containing more gravel and small pebbles than below. Among the gravel stones, small fragments of flesh-coloured {155} felspar are distinguished. About the summits of the hills we saw some detached pieces of fine carnelion, with agates and calcedony.

We had often examined, with some anxiety, the turbid waters of the Platte, hoping thereby to gain information respecting the predominating rock formations of the mountainous district, from which that river descends.

It had been a received opinion among some of the geologists of the United States, that the Rocky Mountains were not of primitive rocks; we had hitherto observed nothing which could either confirm or invalidate this opinion.

The great alluvial formation, which occupies the country on both sides of the lower portion of the river Platte, is an almost unmixed siliceous sand, in no manner distinguishable from the _débris_ of the sandstones of transition mountains. Near the forks of the Platte, we first observed that the waters of that river bring down, among other matters, numerous small scales of mica. This also is a constituent of the sandstones of the lower secondary or transition formations. The fragments of unmixed and crystalline felspar, which now began to be of frequent occurrence, were considered as the first convincing evidence of the primitive character of the Rocky Mountains. These fragments of felspar, we believed, could have been derived from no other than primitive rocks.

During all the day on the 23d we travelled along the south side of the Platte, our course inclining something more towards the south-west than heretofore.

Intermixed in the narrow fringe of timber, which marks the course of the river, are very numerous trees, killed by the action of the beaver or by the effects of old age; their decorticated and bleached trunks and limbs strongly contrasting with the surrounding objects, many of them rendered doubly {156} interesting by affording a support to the nests of the bald eagle, elevated like a beacon in the horizon of the traveller.

Large herds of bisons were seen in every direction; but as we had already killed a deer, and were supplied with meat enough for the day, none of the party were allowed to go in pursuit of them. Prickly pears became more and more abundant as we ascended the river; and here they occurred in such extensive patches as considerably to retard our progress, it being wholly impracticable to urge our horses across them. The cactus ferox is the most common, and, indeed, the only species which is of frequent occurrence. It has been stated by a traveller to the Upper Missouri,[108] that the antelope, which inhabits the extensive plains of that river and its tributaries, finds means to make this plant, notwithstanding its terrific armature of thorns, subservient to its necessities, "by cutting it up with his hoofs." We were able to discover no confirmation of this statement; it may, however, be applicable to some plains more arid and sterile than any we have passed, where the antelopes may be driven by necessity to the use of this hard expedient.

[108] Nuttall's Genera of North American Plants, vol. i. p. 296.—JAMES.

On the following day we saw immense herds of bisons, blackening the whole surface of the country through which we passed. At this time they were in their summer coat. From the shoulders backwards, all the hinder parts of the animal are covered with a growth of very short and fine hair, as smooth and soft to the touch as a piece of velvet. The tail is very short, and tufted at the end, and its services, as a fly-brush, are confined to a very limited surface.

The fore parts of the body are covered with long shaggy hair, descending in a tuft behind the knee, in a distinct beard beneath the lower jaw, rising in a dense mass on the top of his head as high as the tip of the horns, matted and curled on his front so {157} thickly as to deaden the force of the rifle-ball, which rebounds from the forehead, or lodges in the hair, causing the animal only to shake his head as he bounds heavily onward. The head is so large and ponderous, in proportion to the size of the body, that the supporting muscles, which greatly enlarge the neck, form over the shoulders, where they are imbedded on each side of elongated vertebral processes, distinguished by the name of hump ribs, a very considerable elevation called the hump, which is of an oblong form, diminishing in height as it recedes, so as to give considerable obliquity to the line of the back. The eye is small, black, and piercing; the horns, which are black, and remarkably robust at base, curve outward and upward, tapering rapidly to the tip. The profile of the face is somewhat convexly curved; and the superior lip, on each side, papillous within, is dilated and extended downward, so as to give a very oblique appearance to the lateral rictus, or gape of the mouth, considerably resembling in this respect the ancient architectural bas-reliefs representing the heads of the ox. The physiognomy is menacing and ferocious, and the whole aspect of the animal is sufficiently formidable to influence the spectator who is, for the first time, placed near him in his native wilds, with certain feelings which indicate the propriety of immediate attention to personal safety.

The bison cow bears the same relation, as to appearance, to the bull, that the domestic cow does to her mate; she is smaller, with much less hair on the anterior part of her body, and though she has a conspicuous beard, yet this appendage is comparatively short; her horns also are much less robust, and not partially concealed by hair.

The dun colour prevails on the coat of the bison; but the long hair of the anterior part of the body, with the exception of the head, is more or less tinged with yellowish or rust colour. The uniformity of {158} colour, however, amongst these animals is so steadfast, that any considerable deviation from the ordinary standard is regarded by the natives as effected under the immediate influence of the Divinity.

A trader of the Missouri informed us that he had seen a grayish-white bison, and that another, a yearling calf, was distinguished by several white spots on the side, and by a white frontal mark and white fore feet.

Mr. J. Dougherty saw in an Indian hut a bison head, very well prepared, which had a white star on the front; the owner valued it highly, calling it his great medicine; he could not be tempted to part with it; "for," said he, "the herds come every season into the vicinity to seek their white-faced companion."

They are the skins of the cows almost exclusively that are used in commerce; those of the bulls being so large, heavy, and difficult to prepare, that this is comparatively seldom attempted.

That the bison formerly ranged over the Atlantic states there can be no doubt; and Lawson informs us that even in his time some were killed in Virginia; and Cumming, in his Sketches of a Tour to the Western Country, informs us that, "long after the country (Kentucky) began to be generally settled, and ceased to be a hunting ground by the Indians," the "buffaloes, bears, and deer, were so plenty in the country that little or no bread was used," and "the facility of gaining them prevented the progress of agriculture, until the poor innocent buffaloes were completely extirpated, and the other wild animals much thinned."[109] This process of extirpation has not since been relaxed, and the bison is now driven beyond the lakes, the Illinois, and southern portion of the Mississippi rivers, their range extending from the country west of Hudson's bay to the northern provinces of Mexico. They have not yet crossed the entire breadth of the mountains at the {159} head of the Missouri, though they penetrate, in some parts, far within that range, to the most accessible fertile valleys, particularly the valley of Lewis' river. It was there that Mr. Henry and his party of hunters wintered, and subsisted chiefly upon the flesh of these animals, which they saw in considerable herds; but the Indians affirmed that it was unusual for the bisons to visit that neighbourhood.[110]

[109] John Lawson, a Scotchman, came to North Carolina about 1700, as surveyor-general; he was killed by the Indians in 1712. His book, _A New Voyage to Carolina_, etc., originally published at London in 1709, ran through several editions, and was reprinted at Raleigh in 1860. "He [the bison] seldom appears amongst the _English_ Inhabitants ... yet I have known some kill'd on the Hilly Part of _Cape-Fair_-River, they passing the Ledges of vast Mountains ... before they can come near us." [In margin.] "_Two killed one year in_ Virginia _at_ Appamaticks." (See edition of 1714, in Stevens's _Collection of Voyages_, p. 115.)

Cuming's _Tour_ is reprinted as volume iv of our series. See p. 177 for passage quoted.—ED.

[110] Andrew Henry was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, between 1773 and 1778, and died in Washington County, Missouri, in 1832. He was one of the original incorporators of the Missouri Fur Company in 1809 and the next year built the first post established by an American trader beyond the crest of the Rockies; this was Fort Henry, on Snake River, probably near the present village of Egin, Fremont County, Idaho. It was abandoned the succeeding spring, but furnished shelter for a few days to the party under Hunt, bound overland to Astoria. (See Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, note 2). Little is known of Henry from 1811 to 1822; at the latter date he entered into partnership with General W. H. Ashley (congressman from Missouri, 1831-37), and for a time prospered in the fur-trade, but lost his fortune by becoming a surety for others.

Lewis River was the name given by Lewis and Clark to Salmon and Snake rivers. Fort Henry was not far from the headwaters of the former.—ED.

All the mountains which we ascended were more or less strewed with the dung of these animals about the lower parts; a conclusive evidence that this portion of the range had been traversed by the bisons.

The cows remain fat from July to the latter part of December. The rutting season occurs towards the latter part of July, and continues until the beginning of September, after which month the cows separate from the bulls, in distinct herds, and bring forth their calves in April. The calves seldom separate themselves from the mother under the age of one year; and cows are often seen accompanied by the calves of three seasons.

The meat of the bison has often been compared with that of the domestic ox, and the preference yielded to the latter, as an article of food. This decision, however, we cannot, from our experience confirm; it appeared to us that although of a somewhat coarser fibre, yet, after making due allowance for the situation in which we were placed, our appetites often increased by hunger and privation, that the flesh of the bison is in no degree inferior in delicacy and sweetness to that of the common ox. But that the flesh of those which we were accustomed to eat was more agreeably sapid than that which formed a subject of comparison to the authors alluded to, is altogether possible, as the grass upon which they usually fed was short, firm, and nutritious, considerably differing in its nature from the luxuriant and less solid grass nourished by a fertile soil. It was {160} preferred by the party to the flesh of the elk or deer, which was thrown away when it could be substituted by the bison meat.

To the fat of the bison we conceded a decided superiority over that of the common ox, as being richer and sweeter to the taste.

As our stock of provision was nearly exhausted, permission was given, when we had arrived near a suitable place for our mid-day halt, to the hunters to go out in pursuit of bisons, and in a short time two were killed. The choice parts of these were taken and placed upon pack-horses, to be carried forward to our next encampment, where some of it might be _jerked_ on the ensuing day, which was Sunday.

Aside from the vast herds of bisons which it contains, the country along the Platte is enlivened by great numbers of deer, badgers,[111] hares,[112] prairie wolves, eagles, buzzards,[113] ravens, and owls: these, with its rare and interesting plants, in some measure relieved the uniformity of its cheerless scenery. We found a constant source of amusement in observing the unsightly figure, the cumbrous gait, and impolitic movements of the bison; we were often delighted by the beauty and fleetness of the antelope, and the social comfort and neatness of the prairie dog.

[111] Meles labradoricus.—JAMES.

[112] Lepus variabilis? possibly it may prove to be L. glacialis of Leach.—JAMES.

[113] Vultur aura.—JAMES.

This barren and ungenial district appeared, at this time, to be filled with greater numbers of animals than its meagre productions are sufficient to support. It was, however, manifest that the bisons, then thronging in such numbers, were moving towards the south. Experience may have taught them to repair at certain seasons to the more luxuriant plains of Arkansa and Red river. What should ever prompt them to return to the inhospitable deserts of the Platte, it is not perhaps, easy to conjecture. In whatever {161} direction they move, their parasites and dependants fail not to follow. Large herds are invariably attended by gangs of meagre, famine-pinched wolves, and flights of obscene and ravenous birds.

We have frequently remarked broad shallow excavations in the soil, of the diameter of from five to eight feet, and greatest depth from six inches to eighteen. These are of rare occurrence near the Missouri, as far as Engineer cantonment, and in other districts where the bison is seldom seen at the present day; and when they do exist there, they are overgrown by grass and nearly obliterated. As you approach the country, still the constant residence of these animals, the excavations become more numerous, and are less productive of grass. They now are so numerous as to be of constant recurrence, offering a considerable impediment to the traveller, who winds his way amongst them, and are entirely destitute of grass, their surface being covered with a deep dust. Until recently, we had no opportunity to observe the cause which gives rise to these appearances; but we were now convinced that they were the result of the habit which the bulls have, in common with the domestic bull, of scraping up the earth with their fore feet, in the process of dusting themselves: they serve also as places for rolling and wallowing; a gratification which the bison bull indulges in as frequently, and in the same manner as the horse.

Some extensive tracts of land along the Platte, particularly those portions which are a little elevated, with an undulating or broken surface, are almost exclusively occupied by a scattered growth of several species of wormwood, (artemisia) some of which are common to this country, and that on the lower Missouri: we may enumerate the following—A. ludoviciana, A. longifolia, A. serrata, A. columbiensis,[114] {162} A. cernua, A. canadensis; most of these species have simple or finely divided compound leaves, which are long and slender, and canescent, like those of the A. absynthium, the common wormwood of the gardens. The peculiar aromatic scent, and the flavor of this well known plant, is recognized in all the species we have mentioned. Several of them are eaten by the bisons, and our horses were sometimes reduced to the necessity of feeding upon them.

[114] A. columbiensis. This is said to be the plant known to the party of Lewis and Clarke, by the name of "wild sage." It occurs abundantly in the barren plains of the Columbia river; where it furnishes the sole article of fuel or of shelter to the Indians who wander in those woodless deserts. See Nuttall's Genera, vol. ii. p. 142.—JAMES.

The intense reflection of light and heat from the surface of many tracts of naked sand, which we crossed, added much to the fatigue and suffering of our journey. We often met with extensive districts covered entirely with loose and fine sand blown from the adjacent hills. In the low plains along the river, where the soil is permanent, it is highly impregnated with saline substances, and too sterile to produce any thing except a few stinted carices and rushes.

On the evening of the twenty-fourth, after we had encamped, several bull bisons, being on the windward side, came so near us as to create a disturbance among our horses, who were not yet so familiarized to the formidable appearance of those animals, as to regard their near approach with indifference. The bulls at length became troublesome, approaching so near to smell at the horses, that some of the latter broke the cords by which they were fastened, and made their escape. A man was then sent to frighten away the bisons, who, in their turn, exhibited as much terror as they had occasioned to our horses.

On Sunday, the twenty-fifth, we remained encamped, and some of the men were employed in drying a part of the meat killed on the preceding day. {163} This was done that we might be able to carry constantly with us a small supply of provisions, in reserve against any occasion when we might not meet with game.

The magnetic variation equated from two sets of observations, was found to be 14° east. Observations for longitude were made; it was also attempted to take the meridian altitude of Antares for ascertaining the latitude, but the observation was commenced a few minutes too late, we having been longer occupied in making the preceding observations than we had anticipated.[115]

[115] There is a considerable error in the longitude of points in western Nebraska and Colorado as given on the map of the expedition. For example, the longitude of the town of North Platte, at the confluence of the forks of the Platte, is 100° 45' 53"; while on the accompanying map the one hundred and second meridian runs but little west of the spot. For this reason, and because of the few landmarks described, the location of the camps of the expedition can only be approximated; but that of June 26 must have been quite near the Nebraska-Colorado boundary. The South Platte leaves Colorado almost exactly at the northeastern corner of the state.—ED.

26th. The weather had now been for some days fair. As we approached the mountains, we felt or fancied, a very manifest change in the character of the weather, and the temperature of the air. Mornings and evenings were usually calm, and the heat more oppressive than in the middle of the day. Early in the forenoon, a light and refreshing breeze often sprung up, blowing from the west or south-west, which again subsided on the approach of night. This phenomenon was so often observed that we were induced to attribute it to the operation of the same local cause, which in the neighbourhood of the sea, produces a diurnal change in the winds, which blow alternately to and from the shore. The Rocky Mountains may be considered as forming the shore of that sea of sand, which is traversed by the Platte, and extends northward to the Missouri, above the great bend.

The rarefaction of the air over this great plain, by the reverberation of the sun's rays during the day, causes an ascending current, which is supplied by the rushing down of the condensed air from the mountains. Though the sun's rays in the middle of the day were scorching and extremely afflictive to our eyes, the temperature of the air, as indicated by the thermometer, had hitherto rarely exceeded 80° Fah.

{164} In the forenoon we passed a range of hills more elevated than any we had seen west of the Missouri. These hills cross the Platte from north to south, and though inconsiderable in magnitude, they can be distinguished extending several miles on each side of the river. They consist principally of gravel, intermixed with small water-worn fragments of granite and other primitive rocks, but are based on a stratum of coarse friable sand-stone, of a dark gray colour, which has been uncovered, and cut through by the bed of the Platte.

This range may perhaps be a continuation or spur from the black hills mentioned by Lewis and Clarke, as containing the sources of the Shienne, and other tributaries to the Missouri, at no great distance to the north of the place where we now were.[116]

[116] The name "Black Hills," which is now associated with the mountains of southwestern South Dakota, has also been applied somewhat indefinitely to hills in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado. Lewis and Clark's map places hills so named along the eastern side of the North Platte, running well into Nebraska. The name is sometimes given to the hills enclosed by the circular course of the North Platte, in southeastern Wyoming; while Frémont (1842) applies it to the hills through which Cache la Poudre River cuts its way to the South Platte.—ED.

At evening we arrived at another scattering grove of cotton-wood trees, among which we placed our camp, immediately on the brink of the river. The trees of which these insulated groves are usually composed, from their low and branching figure, and their remoteness from each other, as they stand scattered over the soil they occupy, revived strongly in our minds the appearance and gratifications resulting from an apple orchard; for which from a little distance they might readily be mistaken, if seen in a cultivated region. At a few rods distant on our right hand, was a fortified Indian camp, which appeared to have been recently occupied. It was constructed of such broken half-decayed logs of wood as the place afforded, intermixed with some skeletons of bisons recently killed. It is of a circular form, enclosing space enough for about thirty men to lie down upon. The wall is about five feet high, with an opening towards the east, and the top uncovered.

At a little distance in front of the entrance of this breastwork, was a semicircular row of sixteen bison skulls, with their noses pointing down the river. Near the centre of the circle which this row would {165} describe, if continued, was another skull marked with a number of red lines.

Our interpreter informed us that this arrangement of skulls and other marks here discovered, were designed to communicate the following information, namely, that the camp had been occupied by a war party of the Skeeree or Pawnee Loup Indians, who had lately come from an excursion against the Cumancias, Ietans, or some of the western tribes. The number of red lines traced on the painted skull indicated the number of the party to have been thirty-six; the position in which the skulls were placed, that they were on their return to their own country. Two small rods stuck in the ground, with a few hairs tied in two parcels to the end of each, signified that four scalps had been taken.

A record of facts, which may be important and interesting to others, is thus left for the benefit of all who may follow. For our part we were glad to be informed, that one lawless and predatory band of savages had lately left the country we were about to traverse. We were never without some anxiety on the subject of Indian war-parties; who are known frequently to remunerate themselves for any discomfiture or loss they may have sustained, by making free booty of the property and the scalps of the first weak or unguarded party they may meet.

At a late hour in the night, after our camp had become quiet, we were suddenly awakened by a loud rushing noise, which in a moment seemed to reach the centre of our encampment; immediately a piercing exclamation of terror was heard from one of our interpreters, which, from the peculiarity of its tone, seemed to have escaped from a throat under the grasp of death. It became immediately apparent that the cause of the alarm proceeded from our horses, all of whom had broken loose from their stakes, near the Indian fort, and had run in a state of fright through our camp, with the apparent desire to gain our protection {166} against something in their rear. We proceeded in a cautious manner to reconnoitre the environs of the camp, stooping low, in order that the eye might be directed along the level of the top of the grass, which was here of a very luxuriant growth, in order to detect in the gloom, any inimical object that might rise above it; having thus convinced ourselves that nothing dangerous to our safety remained very near to us, the horses were again secured, and we betook ourselves to our beds, with the reflection, that they had probably been alarmed by the too near approach of bisons.

We had scarce fallen asleep, when we were aroused the second time, by the discharge of a gun close to our tent. This was the signal which we had all understood was to be given by the sentinel, in case of the hostile approach of Indians to the camp. We therefore bestirred ourselves, being well assured we had other business at hand, than the securing of horses. Several of the party went to reconnoitre the old fort above mentioned, but nothing was discovered and they returned.

After all were assembled at camp, Major Long informed us the alarm had been given by his order, and was intended to test the coolness and self-possession of the party, and to prepare us in some measure for an unpleasant occurrence, we all thought too likely to happen, which was no other than a serious attack from the Indians, to be made according to their custom at that highly unseasonable hour of the morning.

Since leaving the Missouri, we had never indulged a disposition to sluggishness, accustoming ourselves to rise every morning long before the sun; but we still found we left that small spot of earth, on which we had rested our limbs, and which had become warm and dry by the heat of our bodies, with as much reluctance as we have felt at quitting softer beds.

{167} The mode of rallying now prescribed was the following; immediately after an alarm should be given, the party should seize their arms, and form in front of the tents, in the rear of the line of packs, and await any orders that might be given. The sentinel giving the alarm should proceed to the tent of the officers, in order to acquaint them with the cause. Major Long and Captain Bell should reconnoitre about the encampment, and if practicable ascertain the real occasion of the alarm. Farther movements to be regulated as the emergency might require.

This alarm was the occasion of our starting on the morning of the 26th at an earlier hour than usual. We rode on through the same uninteresting and dreary country as before, but were constantly amused at observing the motions of the countless thousands of bisons, by which we were all the time surrounded. The wind happening to blow fresh from the south, the scent of our party was borne directly across the Platte, and we could distinctly note every step of its progress through a distance of eight or ten miles, by the consternation and terror it excited among the buffaloes. The moment the tainted gale infected their atmosphere, they ran with as much violence as if pursued by a party of mounted hunters, and instead of running from the danger, turned their heads towards the wind; eager to escape from the terrifying scent, they pushed forward in an oblique direction towards our party, and plunging into the river they swam and waded, and ran with the utmost violence, in several instances breaking through our line of march, which was immediately along the left bank of the Platte.

It is remarked by hunters, and appears to be an established fact, that the odour of a white man is more terrifying to wild animals, particularly the bison, than that of an Indian. This animal, in the course of its periodic migrations, comes into the immediate {168} neighbourhood of the permanent Indian villages, on the Missouri and the Platte. One was seen by our hunters within six miles of the Grand Pawnee village, and immediately about the towns we saw many heads and skeletons of such as had been killed there the preceding spring. They had come in while the Pawnees were absent on their winter's hunt, and at their return, we were informed, they found the bisons immediately about their villages. They disappeared invariably from the neighbourhood of the white settlements within a few years. We are aware that another cause may be found for this than the frightful scent of the white man, which is, the impolitic exterminating war which he wages against all unsubdued animals within his reach.

It would be highly desirable that some law for the preservation of game might be extended to, and rigidly enforced in the country where the bison is still met with; that the wanton destruction of these valuable animals, by the white hunters, might be checked or prevented. It is common for hunters to attack large herds of these animals, and having slaughtered as many as they are able, from mere wantonness and love of this barbarous sport, to leave the carcasses to be devoured by the wolves and birds of prey; thousands are slaughtered yearly, of which no part is saved except the tongues. This inconsiderate and cruel practice is undoubtedly the principal reason why the bison flies so far and so soon from the neighbourhood of our frontier settlements.

It is well known to those in the least degree conversant with the Indians, that the odour which their bodies exhale, though very strong and peculiar, is by no means unpleasant,[117] at least to most persons. A negro in the employment of the Missouri Fur Company, and living at Fort Lisa, was often heard to complain of the intolerable scent of the squaws; in like manner, the Indians find the odour of a white man extremely offensive. In the language of the {169} Peruvian Indians, are three words to express their idea of the smell of the European, the aboriginal American, and the negro. They call the first _Pezuna_, the second _Posco_, and the third _Grajo_.[118]

[117] We may add on this subject the testimony of Lawson, the early historian of North Carolina. After describing the huts of the native inhabitants, he adds, "These dwellings are as hot as stoves, where the Indians sleep and sweat all night; yet I never felt any ill unsavory smell in their cabins, whereas should we live in our houses as they do, we should be poisoned with our own nastiness; which confirms the Indians to be, as they really are, some of the sweetest people in the world." New Voyage to Carolina, p. 177. London, 4to. 1709.—JAMES.

[118] See Humboldt's New Spain, vol. i. p. 184.—JAMES.

After passing the range of hills above mentioned, the surface subsides nearly to a plain, having, however, manifestly a greater inclination than below. The velocity of the current of the river is much increased, the bed narrower, and the banks more precipitous. We passed several extensive tracts nearly destitute of vegetation. The surface of these consisted entirely of coarse sand and gravel, with here and there an insulated mass of clay, highly impregnated with salt, and gnawed and licked into various singular shapes, exhibiting the forms of massive insulated columns, huge buttresses, prominent angles, and profound excavations, fortuitously mingled, and which are now gradually diminishing, under the action of the cause which produced them. The present surface upon which they repose, seems to be a stratum of a different earth, which does not afford the condiment so attractive to the animals; the consequence is, that the licking and chewing, principally, heretofore, affecting the surface on which the animal stood, is now directed against the upright portions of this singular grand excavation, and most remarkable of all known salt-licks.

Some extensive portions of the immediate bottom land, along the river, were white with an effloresced salt, but this being impure and but imperfectly soluble, did not appear to have been licked.

Towards evening we passed two springs of transparent, but impure and brackish water. They were the first we had met with on the Platte.[119] Among a considerable number of undescribed plants collected on the 27th, are three referable to the family of the rough-leaved plants (asperifoliæ), one of them belonging {170} to a genus not heretofore known in the United States. It has a salver-form corolla, with a large spreading angular, plaited border. Another plant very conspicuously ornamental to these barren deserts, is a lactescent annual, belonging to the family of the convolvulacæ, with a bright purple corolla, as large as that of the common stramonium. We also observed the white-stalked primrose, (œnothera albicaulis, N.) a very small white-flowered species of talinum, and some others. We observed, in repeated instances, several individuals of a singular genus of reptiles (chirotes, Cuv.) which in form resemble short serpents, but are more closely allied to the lizards, by being furnished with two feet. They were so active, that it was not without some difficulty that we succeeded in obtaining a specimen. Of this (as was our uniform custom, when any apparently new animal was presented) we immediately drew out a description. But as the specimen was unfortunately lost, and the description formed part of the zoological notes and observations, which were carried off by our deserters, we are reduced to the necessity of merely indicating the probability of the existence of the chirotes lumbricoides of naturalists, within the territory of the United States.

[119] There are a number of springs in the ravines south of the Platte between Ogallala, Nebraska, and Julesburg, Colorado. During this day's march, the party doubtless crossed the Nebraska-Colorado line.—ED.

At night we were again alarmed by a disturbance among our horses, of which we were not able to ascertain the cause. Some of the party had, on the preceding day, reported that they had seen Indians at a distance, that they were on horseback, &c. but of this there could be no certainty, the imagination often representing a herd of antelopes, or other animals, seen at a distance, and perhaps distorted by the looming of the prairie, as so many mounted Indians. We had often found ourselves more grossly abused by our eye-sight, than is supposed in this instance, having mistaken turkies for bisons, wolves for horses, &c.

28th. We breakfasted, and left our encampment {171} before five o'clock. We had not proceeded far when we discovered about thirty wild horses at a distance before us. They had taken our scent, and run off in a fright, when we were a mile distant. Their activity and fleetness surpassed what we had expected from this noble animal in his savage state. In the course of the day we saw other herds, but all at a distance. The country south of the Platte contains, as we are informed, vast numbers of horses. They are of the domesticated stock introduced by the Spaniards, but they multiply rapidly in their present state of regained freedom, and are apparently wilder than any of the native occupants of this country. They are of various colours, and of all sizes, there being many colts, and some mules, among them. Their playfulness, rather than their fears, seemed to be excited by our appearance, and we often saw them, more than a mile distant, leaping and curvetting, involved by a cloud of dust, which they seemed to delight in raising.

About some sandy ridges, which we passed in the middle of the day, several miliary rattle-snakes were seen, two of which were killed. These had been occasionally met with all along the Platte, but were by no means numerous. Mr. Peale killed a female antelope, without leaving our line. The animal had not been able to satisfy its curiosity, and stood at a little distance gazing at us, until it was shot down.

During the day we passed three small creeks discharging into the Platte from the north-west. One of these, called by the Indians Bat-so-ah, or Cherry creek, heads in the Rocky Mountains.[120] On these creeks are a few small cotton-wood and willow trees. These trees, as well as all those along the Platte, are low, with very large and branching tops, as is the case with all trees which grow remote from each other.

[120] Cherry Creek is probably the modern Pawnee Creek, of Logan County, Colorado. The statement in the text relative to its source is misleading, as no stream debouching in this vicinity heads so far west; the heads of the several branches of Cherry Creek are all in eastern Weld County, many miles from the mountains proper. Frémont camped near Cherry Creek on July 7, 1843.—ED.

In the afternoon hunters were sent forward, but it was not without some difficulty that a single bison {172} was killed, those animals having become much less frequent.[121]

[121] A small fox was killed, which appears to be the animal mentioned by Lewis and Clarke, in the account of their travels, under the name of the _burrowing fox_, (vol. ii. p. 351.) It is very much to be regretted, that although two or three specimens of it were killed by our party, whilst we were within about two hundred miles of the mountains, yet from the dominion of peculiar circumstances, we were unable to preserve a single entire skin; and as the description of the animal taken on the spot was lost, we shall endeavour to make the species known to naturalists, with the aid of only a head and a small portion of the neck of one individual, and a cranium of another, which are now before us.

In magnitude, the animal is hardly more than half the size of the American red fox, (_Canis Virginianus_, of the recent authors,) to which it has a considerable resemblance. But, that it is an adult, and not the young of that species, the presence of the large carnivorous tooth, and the two posterior molar teeth of the lower jaw, on each side, sufficiently attest; these teeth, as well as all the others, being very much worn down, prove that the milk teeth have been long since shed.

The teeth, in form, correspond to considerable exactness with those of our red fox; but the anterior three and four false molares of both these species are sufficiently distinguished from the corresponding teeth of the gray, or tri-coloured fox (C. cinereo-argenteus) by being wider at base, and less elongated perpendicularly, and by having the posterior basal lobe of each, longer and much more distinctly armed with a tubercle at tip.

Besides this disparity of dentition in the red and gray foxes, the general form of the cranium, and its particular detailed characters, as a less elevated occipital, and temporal crest, more profoundly sinuous junction of the malar with the maxillary bone, the absence of elevated lines bounding the space between the insertions of the lateral muscles, passing in a slightly reclivate direction between the orbital processes, and the anterior tip of the occipital crest, and in particular the want of an angular process of the lower jaw beneath the spinous process in the cranium of the red fox, are sufficiently obvious characters to indicate even by this portion of the osseous structure alone, its specific distinctness from the gray fox. In these differences the osteology of the burrowing fox equally participates, and although besides these characters in common with the red fox, we may observe a correspondence in many other respects, yet there are also many distinctions which the cranium of this small species will present, when more critically compared with that well known animal, which unequivocally forbid us from admitting their identity. The common elevated space on the parietal bones between the insertions of the lateral muscles is one-fourth wider, and extends further backward, so as to embrace a notable portion of the anterior angle of the sagitto-occipital crest; the recipient cavity in the inferior jaw for the attachment of the masseter muscle is more profound, and the coronoid process, less elevated than the top of the zygomatic arch, is more obtusely rounded at tip than that of the red fox.

The dimensions of the cranium, as taken by the calipers:

The entire length from the insertion of the superior incisores to the tip of the occipital crest, is rather more than four inches and three-tenths. The least distance between the orbital cavities, nine-tenths. Between the tips of the orbital processes less than one inch and one-tenth. Between the insertions of the lateral muscles, at the junction of the frontal and parietal bones, half an inch. Greatest breadth of this space on the parietal bones thirteen-twentieths of an inch.