USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 23
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"I was desirous to visit the Platte near the point where it leaves the Black Hills, and therefore followed this stream for two or three miles, to the mouth; where I encamped on a spot which afforded good grass for our animals. Our
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tents having been found too thin to protect ourselves and the instruments from the rain, which in this elevated coun- try is attended with cold and unpleasant weather, I had procured from the Indians at Laramie a tolerably large lodge, about eighteen feet in diameter and twenty feet in height. Such a lodge, when properly pitched, is, from its conical form, almost perfectly secure against the violent winds which are frequent in this region, and, with a fire in the center, is a dry and warm shelter in bad weather. By raising the lower part so as to permit the breeze to pass freely, it is converted into a pleasant summer residence, with the extraordinary advantage of being entirely free from mosquitoes, one of which I have never seen in an In- dian lodge. While we were engaged very unskillfully in erecting this, the interpreter, Mr. Bissonette, arrived, ac- companied by the Indian and his wife. She laughed at our awkwardness, and offered her assistance, of which we were frequently afterward obliged to avail ourselves, before the men acquired sufficient expertness to pitch it without diffi- culty. From this place we had a very fine view of the gorge where the Platte issues from the Black Hills, changing its character abruptly from a mountain stream into a river of the plains. Immediately around us the valley of the stream was tolerably open, and at the distance of a few miles, where the river had cut its way through the hills, was a narrow cleft, on one side of which a lofty precipice of bright red rose vertically above the low hills which lay between us. "July 22 .- In the morning, while breakfast was being prepared, I visited this place with my favorite man, Basil Lajeunesse. Entering so far as there was footing for the mules, we dismounted, and, tying our animals, continued our way on foot. Like the whole country, the scenery of the river had undergone an entire change and was in this place the most beautiful I have ever seen. The breadth of the stream, generally near that of its valley, was from two to three hundred feet, with a swift current, occasionally broken by rapids, and the water perfectly clear. On either side rose the red precipices, vertical, and sometimes over- hanging, two and four hundred feet in height, crowned with green summits on which were scattered a few pines. At the foot of the rocks was the usual detritus, formed of masses fallen from above. Among the pines that grew here, and on the occasional banks, were the cherry, currants and the grains de boeuf. Viewed in the sunshine of a pleas- ant morning, the scenery was of a most striking and roman-
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tic beauty, which arose from the picturesque distribution of the objects and the vivid contrast of colors. I thought with great pleasure of our approaching descent in the canoe through such interesting places; and, in the expectation of being able at that time to give to them a full examination, did not now dwell so much as might have been desirable upon the geological formations along the line of the river, where they are developed with great clearness. The upper portion of the red sandstone consists of a very compact clay, in which are occasionally seen imbedded large pebbles. Below was a stratum of compact red sandstone, changing a little above the river into a very hard silicious limestone. There is a small but handsome prairie immediately below this place, on the left bank of the river, which would be a good locality for a military post. There are some open groves of cottonwood on the Platte. The small stream which comes in at this place is well timbered with pine, and good building rock is abundant.
"If it is in contemplation to keep open the communica- tions with Oregon territory, a show of military force in this country is absolutely necessary; and a combination of ad- vantages renders the neighborhood of Fort Laramie the most suitable place, on the line of the Platte, for the estab- lishment of a military post. It is connected with the mouth of the Platte and the Upper Missouri by excellent roads, which are in frequent use, and would not in any way inter- fere with the range of the buffalo, on which the neighboring Indians mainly depend for support. It would render any posts on the Lower Platte unnecessary; the ordinary com- munication between it and the Missouri being sufficient to control the intermediate Indians. It would operate effec- tually to prevent any such coalitions as are now formed among the Gros Ventres, Sioux, Cheyennes and other Indi- ans, and would keep the Oregon road through the valley of the Sweetwater and the South Pass of the mountains con- stantly open. A glance at the map which accompanies this report will show that it lies at the foot of a broken and mountainous region, along which, by the establishment of small posts in the neighborhood of St. Vrain's fort, on the South Fork of the Platte, and Bent's fort, on the Arkansas, a line of communication would be formed, by good wagon roads, with our southern military posts, which would en- tirely command the mountain passes, hold some of the most troublesome tribes in check, and protect and facilitate our intercourse with the neighboring Spanish settlements. The
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valleys of the rivers on which they would be situated are fertile; the country, which supports immense herds of buf- falo, is admirably adapted to grazing, and herds of cattle might be maintained by the posts, or obtained from the Spanish country, which already supplies a portion of their provisions to the trading posts mentioned above."
The party camped that night at the mouth of Horse- shoe Creek, and the following night on the Platte a short distance south and east of what is now known as Orin Junc- tion. On the 25th camp was made on the Platte a few miles above where Fort Fetterman was afterwards built. The next night they camped in a rocky glen, now known as Glen- rock. On the night of the 27th camp was made in the vicin- ity of where Caspar now stands. This camp is somewhat in dispute among old-timers on account of the language used by Fremont in his journal after leaving the encampment of the 27th.
"July 28 .- In two miles from our encampment we reached the place where the regular road crosses the Platte. There was two hundred feet breadth of water at this time in the bed, which has a variable width of eight to fifteen hun- dred feet. The channels were generally three feet deep, and there were large angular rocks on the bottom, which made the ford in some places a little difficult. Even at its low stage the river cannot be crossed at random, and this has always been used as the best ford. The low stage of the waters the present year had made it fordable in almost any part of its course, where access could be had to its bed."
It will be observed that Fremont says that he crossed where the regular road crosses the Platte. Now, as there were three regular crossings-one five miles below Caspar; another two miles above that town, and still another five miles above, it is somewhat difficult to determine which of these three crossings was used by the party. The men who went over the Overland Trail in the forties inform me that the lower crossing was not a good one, as quicksand was en- countered. The one two miles above Caspar was somewhat better, but there was no rock in the river. The upper cross- ing was a hard, rocky bottom and answers Fremont's de- scription, and old-timers have assured me that Fremont
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must have crossed at this point. What happened the party on the 28th of July is reserved for another chapter.
CHAPTER XX.
FREMONT'S EXPLORATIONS IN WYOMING-[CONTINUED. ]
MEETS A BAND OF OGALALLA SIOUX-DISCOURAGING REPORTS OF THE CON- DITION OF THE COUNTRY-SEVERE DROUGHT AND A GRASSHOPPER PLAGUE-ADVISED TO GIVE UP THE EXPEDITION-BOLDLY PUSHES FORWARD-JOURNEY UP THE SWEETWATER-CROSSES SOUTH PASS- PENETRATES THE WIND RIVER RANGE-CLIMBS FREMONT'S PEAK- THE RETURN JOURNEY-ENGRAVES A CROSS ON INDEPENDENCE ROCK- MORE CAREFULLY EXPLORES THE NORTH PLATTE-RETURNS TO FORT LARAMIE-FOLLOWS THE PLATTE TO THE MISSOURI-GOES DOWN THE MISSOURI IN A TEN-OARED BOAT-ARRIVES AT ST. LOUIS.
In the last chapter the crossing of the North Platte was noted. Four miles beyond the ford the party met a band of Ogalalla Sioux, who gave a gloomy account of the country beyond, reporting a great drought prevailed, and also that grasshoppers had swept over the country so that there was scarcely a blade of grass to be seen, and there was not a buffalo in the whole region. The Indians had been brought to the point of starvation and were obliged to eat their horses. Hearing these discouraging reports, Mr. Bi- sonette urged Fremont to turn back, as it would be danger- ous to go forward. Fremont says:
"In reply, I called up my men and communicated to them fully the information I had just received. I then ex- pressed to them my fixed determination to proceed to the end of the enterprise on which I had been sent; but as the situation of the country gave me some reason to apprehend that it might be attended with an unfortunate result to some of us, I would leave it optional with them to continue with me or to return. Among them were some five or six who I knew would remain. We had still ten days' provis- ions, and should no game be found when this stock was ex-
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hausted, we had our horses and mules, which we could eat when other means of subsistence failed. But not a man flinched from the undertaking. 'We'll eat the mules,' said Basil Lajeunesse, and thereupon we shook hands with our interpreter and his Indians, and parted. With them I sent back one of my men, Dumes, whom the effects of an old wound in the leg rendered incapable of continuing the jour- ney on foot, and his horse seemed on the point of giving out. Having resolved to disencumber ourselves of everything not absolutely necessary to our future operations, I turned directly in towards the river and encamped on the left bank, a little above the place where our council had been held, and where a thick grove of willows offered a suitable spot for the object I had in view.
"The carts having been discharged, the covers and wheels were taken off, and, with the frames, carried into some low places among the willows and concealed in the dense foliage in such a manner that the glitter of the iron work might not attract the observation of some straggling Indian. In the sand which had been blown up into waves among the willows, a large hole was dug, ten feet square, and six deep. In the meantime, all our effects had been spread out upon the ground, and whatever was designed to be carried along with us separated and laid aside, and the remaining part carried to the hole and carefully covered up. As much as possible, all traces of our proceedings were ob- literated, and it wanted but a rain to render our cache safe beyond discovery. All the men were now set to work to arrange the pack saddles and make up the packs. The day was very warm and calm and the sky entirely clear, except where, as usual along the summits of the mountainous ridge opposite, the clouds had congregated in masses. Our lodge had been planted, and on account of the heat, the ground pins had been taken out and the lower part slightly raised. Near to it was standing the barometer, which swung in a tripod frame, and within the lodge, where a small fire had been built, Mr. Preuss was occupied in observing the temperature of boiling water. At the instant, and without any warning until it was within fifty yards, a violent gust of wind dashed down the lodge, burying under it Mr. Preuss and a dozen men, who had attempted to keep it from being carried away. I succeeded in saving the barometer, which the lodge was carrying off with itself, but the thermometer was broken.
"July 29 .- All our arrangements having been com-
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GEN.JOHN C. FREMONT.
Kit Carson
FREMONT'S SPEECH TO INDIANS AT FORT LARAMIE. (See Page 250.)
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pleted, we left the encampment at 7 o'clock this morning. In this vicinity the ordinary road leaves the Platte and crosses over to the Sweetwater River, which it strikes near Rock Independence. Instead of following this road, I had determined to keep the immediate valley of the Platte so far as the mouth of the Sweetwater, in the expectation of finding better grass. To this I was further prompted by the nature of my instructions. To Mr. Carson was assigned the office of guide, as we had now reached a part of the country with which, or a great part of which, long residence had made him familiar. In a few miles we reached Red Buttes, a famous landmark in this country, whose geological com- position is red sandstone, limestone and calcareous sand- stone and pudding stone. The river here cuts its way through a ridge; on the eastern side of it are lofty escarp- ments of red argillaceous sandstone, which are called the Red Buttes. In this passage the stream is not much com- pressed or pent-up, there being a bank of considerable though variable breadth on either side. Immediately on entering, we discovered a band of buffalo. The hunters failed to kill any of them, the leading hunter being thrown into a ravine, which occasioned some delay, and in the meantime the herd clambered up the steep face of the ridge. It is sometimes wonderful to see these apparently clumsy animals make their way up and down the most rugged and broken precipices. We halted to noon before we had cleared this passage, at a spot twelve miles distant from Cache Camp, where we found an abundance of grass. So far the account of the Indians was found to be false. On the banks were willow and cherry trees. The cherries were not ripe, but in the thickets were numerous fresh tracks of the grizzly bear, which are very fond of this fruit. The soil here is red, the composition being derived from the red sandstone. About seven miles brought us through the ridge, in which the course of the river is north and south. Here the valley opens out broadly and the high walls of the red formation present themselves among the hills to the east. We crossed here a pretty little creek, an affluent of the right bank. It is well timbered with cottonwood in this vicinity, and the absinthe has lost its shrub-like char- acter and becomes small trees six and eight feet in height and sometimes eight inches in diameter. Two or three miles above this creek we made our encampment, having traveled today twenty-five miles. Our animals fared well here, as there is an abundance of grass. The river bed is -(17)
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made up of pebbles, and in the bank, at the level of the water, is a conglomerate of coarse pebbles about the size of ostrich eggs, and which I remarked in the banks of Lara- mie Fork. It is overlaid by a soil of mixed clay and sand six feet thick.
"July 30 .- After traveling about twelve miles this morning we reached a place where the Indian village had crossed the river. Here were the poles of discarded lodges and skeletons of horses lying about. Mr. Carson, who had never been higher up than this point on the river, which has the character of being exceedingly rugged and walled in by precipices above, thought it advisable to camp near the place, where we were certain of obtaining grass, and tomor- row make our crossing among the rugged hills to the Sweet- water river. Accordingly we turned back and descended the river to an island near by, which was about twenty acres in size, covered with a luxuriant growth of grass. The formation here I found highly interesting. Immediately at this island the river is again shut up in the rugged hills, which come down to it from the main ridge in a succession of spurs three or four hundred feet high, and alternated with green level meadows, bordered on the river banks with thickets of willow, and having many plants to interest the traveler. The island lies between two of these ridges, three or four hundred yards apart, of which that on the right bank is composed entirely of red argillaceous sandstone with thin layers of fibrous gypsum. On the left bank the ridge is composed entirely of silicious pudding stone, the pebbles in the numerous strata increasing in size from the top to the bottom, where they are as large as a man's head. So far as I was able to determine, these strata incline to the northeast, with a dip of about 15°. This pudding stone, or conglomerate formation, I was enabled to trace through an extended range of country, from a few miles east of the meridian of Fort Laramie to where I found it superposed on the granite of the Rocky Mountains, in longitude 109º. From its appearance, the main chain of the Laramie moun- tain is composed of this."
On the morning of the 31st the explorers left the Platte and crossed over to the Sweetwater. On August 1st they reached Independence Rock, of which Fremont says:
"The hunters went ahead this morning, as buffalo ap- peared tolerably abundant, and I was desirous to secure a small stock of provisions; and we moved about seven miles
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up the valley and encamped one mile below Rock Inde- pendence. This is an isolated granite rock, about six hun- dred and fifty yards long and forty in height. Except in a depression of the summit, where a little soil supports a scanty growth of shrubs, with a solitary dwarf pine, it is entirely bare. Everywhere within six or eight feet of the ground, where the surface is sufficiently smooth, and in some places sixty or eighty feet above, the rock is inscribed with the names of travelers. Many a name famous in the history of this country, and some well known to science, are to be found mixed among those of the traders and of travelers for pleasure and curiosity, and of missionaries among the savages. Some of these have been washed away by the rain, but the greater number are still very legible."
The first mention I can find of this rock is by Rev. Sam- uel Parker, who visited it on the 7th of August, 1835. He, like Fremont, calls it Rock Independence. He says: "This rock takes its name from the circumstance of a company of fur traders suspending their journey and here observing, in due form, the anniversary of our national freedom." I have talked with many old trappers and traders, and none of them are able to fix the date of the naming of this rock. Jim Baker tells me that Captain Bonneville named it, but of this he had no personal knowledge. The numerous names which Fremont found on the rock would indicate that it had long been known to white men.
After remaining in camp one night below Indepen- dence Rock, Fremont's party pushed on west on the morn- ing of the second, passed Devil's Gate and encamped eight miles beyond. They continued their course up the Sweet- water and on the 6th passed through the canon, the upper end of which is ten miles below where Lewiston is now loca- ted, and that evening camped on a small stream since called the Strawberry. The next morning they again turned to the Sweetwater and crossed the ridge where the Burr mine is now located. They made one more camp before crossing the Continental Divide, and the next day found them on the west side of South Pass.
They camped that night on the first Newfork,now known as Eastfork. Fremont says: "Near our camp were two
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remarkable isolated hills, one of them sufficiently large to merit the name of mountain." W. O. Owen, who some years ago was engaged in making a government survey in that lo- cality, identifies the spot as Section 27, Township 32, Range 107. From this point on until the party returned from the summit of Fremont's Peak, I will copy from the journal :
"August 10 .- The air at sunrise is clear and pure, and the morning extremely cold but beautiful. A lofty snow peak of the mountain is glittering in the first rays of the sun, which has not yet reached us. The long mountain wall to the east, rising two thousand feet abruptly from the plain, behind which we see the peaks, is still dark, and cuts clear against the glowing sky. A fog, just risen from the river, lies along the base of the mountain. A little before sunrise the thermometer was at 35°, and at sunrise 33º. Water froze last night, and fires are very comfortable. The scenery becomes hourly more interesting and grand, and the view here is truly magnificent; but, indeed, it needed something to repay the long prairie journey of a thousand miles. The sun has just shot above the wall and makes a magical change. The whole valley is glowing and bright, and all the mountain peaks are gleaming like silver. Though these snow mountains are not the Alps, they have their own character of grandeur and magnificence, and will doubtless find pens and pencils to do them justice. In the scene before us, we feel how much wood improves a view. The pines on the mountain seem to give it much more ad- ditional beauty. I was agreeably disappointed in the char- acter of the streams on this side of the ridge. Instead of the creeks, which description had led me to expect, I find bold, broad streams, with three or four feet of water and a rapid current. The fork on which we are encamped is upwards of a hundred feet wide, with groves or thickets of the low willow. We were now approaching the loftiest part of the Wind River chain; and I left the valley a few miles from our encampment, intending to penetrate the mountains as far as possible with the whole party. We were soon in- volved in very broken ground, among long ridges covered with fragments of granite. Winding our way up a long ravine, we came unexpectedly in view of a most beautiful lake, set like a gem in the mountains. The sheet of water lay transversely across the direction we had been pursuing; and, descending the steep rocky ridge, where it was neces- sary to lead our horses, we followed its banks to the south-
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ern extremity. Here a view of the utmost magnificence and grandeur burst upon our eyes. With nothing between us and their feet to lessen the whole height, a grand bed of snow capped mountains rose before us, pile upon pile, glow- ing in the bright light of an August day. Immediately be- low them lay the lake, between two ridges, covered with dark pines, which swept down from the main chain to the spot where we stood. Here, where the lake glittered in the open sunlight, its banks of yellow sand and the light foliage of aspen groves contrasted well with the gloomy pines. 'Never before,' said Mr. Preuss, 'in this country or in Europe, have I seen such magnificent, grand rocks.' I was so much pleased with the beauty of the place that I determined to make the main camp here, where our animals would find good pasturage, and explore the mountains with a small party of men. Proceeding a little further, we came sud- denly upon the outlet of the lake, where it found its way through a narrow passage between low hills. Dark pines, which overhung the stream, and masses of rock, where the water foamed along, gave it much romantic beauty. Where we crossed, which was immediately at the outlet, it is two hundred and fifty feet wide, and so deep that with difficulty we were able to ford it. Its head was an accumulation of rocks, boulders and broad slabs, and large angular frag- ments, among which the animals fell repeatedly.
"The current was very swift and the water cold and of a crystal purity. In crossing this stream, I met with a great misfortune in having my barometer broken. It was the only one. A great part of the interest of the journey for me was in the exploration of these mountains, of which so much has been said that was doubtful and contradictory; and now their snowy peaks rose majestically before me, and the only means of giving them authentically to science, the object of my anxious solicitude by night and day, was destroyed. We had brought this barometer in safety a thousand miles, and broke it almost among the snow of the mountains. The loss was felt by the whole camp-all had seen my anxiety and aided me in preserving it. The height of these mountains, considered by the hunters and traders the highest in the whole range, had been a theme of con- stant discussion among them; and all had looked forward with pleasure to the moment when the instrument, which they believed to be as true as the sun, should stand upon its summits and decide their disputes. Their grief was only inferior to my own.
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"This lake is about three miles long and of very irregu- lar width, and of apparently great depth, and is the head- water of the third Newfork, and a tributary to Green River, the Colorado of the west. On the map and in the narrative I have called it Mountain Lake .* I encamped on the north side, about three hundred and fifty feet from the outlet. This was the most western point at which I obtained astro- nomical observations, by which this place, called Bernier's Encampment, is made in 110° 08' 03" west longitude from Greenwich, and latitude 42° 49' 49". The mountain peaks, as laid down, were fixed by bearings from this and other astronomical points. We had no other compass than the small one used in sketching the country; but from an azi- muth, in which one of them was used, the variation of the compass is 18° east. The correction made in our field work by the astronomical observation indicates that this is a very correct observation.
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