estimates from the particles of mud upon the high trees, and the
distance to which they were thrown, that the mud had been thrown, in
this explosion, to the height of between 300 and 400 feet. By actual
measurement we found particles of this mud 186 feet from the edge of the
crater.

We did not dare to stand upon the leeward side of the crater and
withstand the force of the steam; and Mr. Hedges, having ventured too
near the rim on that side, endangered his life by his temerity, and was
thrown violently down the exterior side of the crater by the force of
the volume of steam emitted during one of these fearful convulsions.
General Washburn and I, who saw him fall, were greatly concerned lest
while regaining his feet, being blinded by the steam, and not knowing in
which direction to turn, he should fall into the crater.

Between the volcano, the mud geyser and the cavern spring are a number
of hot sulphur and mud springs, of sizes varying from two to twenty feet
in diameter, and many openings or crevices from which issue hot vapor or
steam, the mouths of which are covered with sulphur deposits or other
incrustations.

From the mud volcano we moved up the valley about four miles to our camp
on the river, passing several mud puffs on the way. One of the soldiers
brought in a large string of river trout, but the water of the river is
strongly impregnated with the overflow from springs near its bank, and
is not palatable. Some of our party who have drank the water are feeling
nauseated. Others think that their illness is caused by partaking too
freely of one of the luxuries of our larder, canned peaches. I assuaged
my thirst with the peaches, and have not partaken of the water, and
there is no one in our camp in finer condition than I am.

Lieutenant Doane's felon has caused him great suffering to-day, and I
have appealed to him to allow me to lance it. I have for many years
carried a lancet in my pocketbook, but I find that I have inadvertently
left it at home. So all this day, while on horseback, I have been
preparing for the surgical operation by sharpening my penknife on the
leathern pommel of my saddle as I rode along. I have in my seamless sack
a few simple medicines, including a vial of chloroform. Lieutenant Doane
has almost agreed to let me open the felon, provided I put him to sleep
with the chloroform; but I feel that I am too much of a novice in the
business to administer it. However, I have told him that I would do so
if he demanded it. Our elevation to-day is about 7,500 feet above sea
level.


Saturday, September 3.--This morning General Washburn and I left camp
immediately after breakfast and returned four miles on our track of
September 1st to Crater Hill and the mud springs, for the purpose of
making farther examinations. We found the sulphur boiling spring to be
full to overflowing, the water running down the inclined surface of the
crust in two different directions. It was also boiling with greater
force than it was when we first saw it, the water being occasionally
thrown up to the height of ten feet. About 80 or 100 yards from this
spring we found what we had not before discovered, a boiling spring of
tartaric acid in solution, with deposits around the edge of the spring,
of which we gathered a considerable quantity. In the basin where we had
found so many mud springs we to-day found a hot boiling spring
containing a substance of deep yellow color, the precise nature of which
we could not readily ascertain. We accordingly brought away some of it
in a bottle (as is our usual custom in such cases of uncertainty), and
we will have an analysis of it made on our return home. In the same
basin we also found some specimens of black lava.

A half mile south of these springs we found an alum spring yielding but
little water and surrounded with beautiful alum crystals. From its
border we obtained a great many curiously shaped deposits of alum
slightly impregnated with iron. The border of this spring below the
surface had been undermined in many places by the violent boiling of the
water, to the distance of several feet from the margin, so that it was
unsafe to stand near the edge of the spring. This, however, I did not
at first perceive; and, as I was unconcernedly passing by the spring, my
weight made the border suddenly slough off beneath my feet. General
Washburn noticed the sudden cracking of the incrustation before I did,
and I was aroused to a sense of my peril by his shout of alarm, and had
sufficient presence of mind to fall suddenly backwards at full length
upon the sound crust, whence, with my feet and legs extended over the
spring, I rolled to a place of safety. But for General Washburn's shout
of alarm, in another instant I would have been precipitated into this
boiling pool of alum. We endeavored to sound the depth of this spring
with a pole twenty-five feet long, but we found no bottom.

Everything around us--air, earth, water--is impregnated with sulphur. We
feel it in every drop of water we drink, and in every breath of air we
inhale. Our silver watches have turned to the color of poor brass,
tarnished.

General Washburn and I again visited the mud vulcano to-day. I
especially desired to see it again for the one especial purpose, among
others of a general nature, of assuring myself that the notes made in my
diary a few days ago are not exaggerated. No! they are not! The
sensations inspired in me to-day, on again witnessing its convulsions,
and the dense clouds of vapor expelled in rapid succession from its
crater, amid the jarring of the earth, and the ominous intonations from
beneath, were those of mingled dread and wonder. At war with all former
experience it was so novel, so unnaturally natural, that I feel while
now writing and thinking of it, as if my own senses might have deceived
me with a mere figment of the imagination. But it is not so. The wonder,
than which this continent, teeming with nature's grandest exhibitions,
contains nothing more marvelous, still stands amid the solitary
fastnesses of the Yellowstone, to excite the astonishment of the
thousands who in coming years shall visit that remarkable locality.[J]

Returning to the camp we had left in the morning, we found the train had
crossed the river, and we forded at the same place, visiting, however,
on our way another large cauldron of boiling mud lying nearly opposite
our camp. Soon after fording the river we discovered some evidence that
trappers had long ago visited this region. Here we found that the earth
had been thrown up two feet high, presenting an angle to the river,
quite ingeniously concealed by willows, and forming a sort of rifle-pit,
from which a hunter without disclosing his hiding place could bring down
swans, geese, ducks, pelicans, and even the furred animals that made
their homes along the river bank.

We followed the trail of the advance party along the bank of the river,
and most of the way through a dense forest of pine timber and over a
broad swampy lowland, when we came into their camp on the Yellowstone
lake two miles from where it empties into the river, and about ten miles
from our morning camp. We passed Brimstone basin on our left, and saw
jets of steam rising from the hills back of it. From all appearances the
Yellowstone can be forded at almost any point between the rapids just
above the upper fall and the lake, unless there are quicksands and
crevices which must be avoided.

Yellowstone lake, as seen from our camp to-night, seems to me to be the
most beautiful body of water in the world. In front of our camp it has a
wide sandy beach like that of the ocean, which extends for miles and as
far as the eye can reach, save that occasionally there is to be found a
sharp projection of rocks. The overlooking bench rises from the water's
edge about eight feet, forming a bank of sand or natural levee, which
serves to prevent the overflow of the land adjoining, which, when the
lake is receiving the water from the mountain streams that empty into it
while the snows are melting, is several feet below the surface of the
lake. On the shore of the lake, within three or four miles of our camp,
are to be found specimens of sandstone, resembling clay, of sizes
varying from that of a walnut to a flour barrel, and of every odd shape
imaginable. Fire and water have been at work here together--fire to
throw out the deposit in a rough shape, and water to polish it. From our
camp we can see several islands from five to ten miles distant in a
direct line. Two of the three "Tetons," which are so plainly visible to
travelers going to Montana from Eagle Rock bridge on Snake river, and
which are such well-known and prominent landmarks on that stage route,
we notice to-night in the direction of south 25 degrees west from our
camp. We shall be nearer to them on our journey around the lake.


Sunday, September 4.--This morning at breakfast time Lieutenant Doane
was sleeping soundly and snoring sonorously, and we decided that we
would not waken him, but would remain in camp till the afternoon and
perhaps until morning. Walter Trumbull suggested that a proper deference
to Jake Smith's religious sentiments ought to be a sufficient reason
for not traveling on Sunday, whereupon Jake immediately exclaimed, "If
we're going to remain in camp, let's have a game of draw."

Last evening Lieutenant Doane's sufferings were so intense that General
Washburn and I insisted that he submit to an operation, and have the
felon opened, and he consented provided I would administer chloroform.
Preparations were accordingly made after supper. A box containing army
cartridges was improvised as an operating table, and I engaged Mr. Bean,
one of our packers, and Mr. Hedges as assistant surgeons. Hedges was to
take his position at Doarte's elbow, and was to watch my motion as I
thrust in the knife blade, and hold the elbow and fore-arm firmly to
prevent any involuntary drawing back of the arm by Lieutenant Doane, at
the critical moment. When Doane was told that we were ready, he asked,
"Where is the chloroform?" I replied that I had never administered it,
and that after thinking the matter over I was afraid to assume the
responsibility of giving it. He swallowed his disappointment, and turned
his thumb over on the cartridge box, with the nail down. Hedges and Bean
were on hand to steady the arm, and before one could say "Jack
Robinson," I had inserted the point of my penknife, thrusting it down to
the bone, and had ripped it out to the end of the thumb. Doane gave one
shriek as the released corruption flew out in all directions upon
surgeon and assistants, and then with a broad smile on his face he
exclaimed, "That was elegant!" We then applied a poultice of bread and
water, which we renewed a half hour later, and Doane at about eight
o'clock last night dropped off into a seemingly peaceful sleep, which
has been continuous up to the time of this writing, two o'clock p.m.[K]


Evening of September 4.--I have been glad to have this rest to-day, for
with the time spent in writing up a detailed diary in addition to the
work about camp, I have been putting in about sixteen hours work each
day. So this afternoon a nap of two or three hours was a pleasant rest.
I strolled for a long distance down the shore, the sand of which abounds
in small crystals, which some of our party think may possess some value.
Craters emitting steam through the water are frequently seen beneath the
surface, at a distance of from forty to fifty feet from its margin, the
water in which is very hot, while that of the lake surrounding them I
found to be too cool for a pleasant bath. In some places the lake water
is strongly impregnated with sulphur. One crater emits a jet of steam
with a hissing noise as loud as that usually heard at the blowing off of
the safety valve of a steam-boat. In the clear light of the setting sun,
we can see the three Tetons in a southwesterly direction.

[Illustration: GRAND TETON.]

Some member of our party has asked what is the meaning of the word
"Teton" given to these mountains.[L] Lieutenant Doane says it is a
French word signifying "Woman's Breast," and that it was given to these
mountains by the early French explorers, because of their peculiar
shape. I think that the man who gave them this name must have seen them
from a great distance; for as we approach them, the graceful curvilinear
lines which obtained for them this delicate appellation appear angular
and ragged. From our present point of view the name seems a misnomer. If
there were twelve of them instead of three, they might better be called
the "Titans," to illustrate their relation to the surrounding country.
He indeed must have been of a most susceptible nature, and, I would fain
believe, long a dweller amid these solitudes, who could trace in these
cold and barren peaks any resemblance to the gentle bosom of woman.


Monday, September 5.--Lieutenant Doane continued to sleep all last
night, making a thirty-six hours nap, and after dressing his thumb and
taking an observation to determine our elevation, which we found to be
7714 feet above the ocean, we broke camp at nine o'clock. After the
train had got under way, I asked Mr. Hedges to remain behind and assist
me in measuring, by a rude system of triangulation, the distance across
the lake as well as to the Tetons; but owing to the difficulty we
encountered in laying out a base line of sufficient length, we abandoned
the scheme after some two hours of useless labor.

[Illustration: SLATE SPECIMENS FROM CURIOSITY POINT. SLATE CUP. LEG AND
FOOT.]

Following the trail of the advance party, we traveled along the lake
beach for about six miles, passing a number of small hot sulphur springs
and lukewarm sulphur ponds, and three hot steam jets surrounded by
sulphur incrustations. After six miles, we left the beach, and traveled
on the plateau overlooking the lake. This plateau was covered with a
luxuriant growth of standing pine and a great deal of fallen timber,
through which at times considerable difficulty was experienced in
passing. A little way from the trail is an alkaline spring about six
feet in diameter. We came to camp on the shore of the lake, after having
marched fifteen miles in a southerly direction. We have a most beautiful
view of the lake from our camp. Yesterday it lay before us calm and
unruffled, save by the waves which gently broke upon the shore. To-day
the winds lash it into a raging sea, covering its surface with foam,
while the sparkling sand along the shore seems to form for it a jeweled
setting, and the long promontories stretching out into it, with their
dense covering of pines, lend a charming feature to the scene. Water
never seemed so beautiful before. Waves four feet high are rolling in,
and there appear to be six or seven large islands; but we cannot be
certain about this number until we reach the south shore. From this
point we cannot tell whether the wooded hills before us are islands or
promontories. On the shore are to be found large numbers of carnelians
or crystallized quartz, agates, specimens of petrified wood, and lava
pebbles or globules. We have found also many curious objects of slate
formation, resembling hollowed-out cups, discs, and two well formed
resemblances of a leg and foot, and many other curious objects which
Nature in her most capricious mood has scattered over this watery
solitude. All these seem to be the joint production of fire and water;
the fire forming and baking them, and the water polishing them. We
called this place "Curiosity Point."

If Mount Washington were set in the lake, its summit would be two
thousand feet below the surface of the water.

To-night a conference of the party was held, to decide whether we would
continue our journey around the lake, or retrace our steps and pass
along the north side of the lake over to the Madison. By a vote of six
to three we have decided to go around the lake. Mr. Hauser voted in
favor of returning by way of the north side. My vote was cast for going
around the lake.

As we passed along the shore to-day, we could see the steam rising from
a large group of hot springs on the opposite shore of the lake bordering
on what seems to be the most westerly bay or estuary.[M] We will have an
opportunity to examine them at short range, when we have completed our
journey around the lake.


Tuesday, September 6.--We broke camp at ten thirty this morning,
bearing well to the southeast for an hour and then turning nearly due
south, our trail running through the woods, and for a large part of our
route throughout the day, through fallen timber, which greatly impeded
our progress. We did not make over ten miles in our day's travel.
Frequently we were obliged to leave the trail running through the woods,
and return to the lake, and follow the beach for some distance. We
passed along the base of a brimstone basin, the mountains forming a
semi-circle half way around it, the lake completing the circle. In
company with Lieutenant Doane I went up the side of the mountain, which
for the distance of three or four miles and about half way to the summit
is covered with what appears to be sulphate (?) of lime and flowers of
sulphur mixed. Exhalations are rising from all parts of the ground at
times, the odor of brimstone being quite strong; but the volcanic action
in this vicinity is evidently decreasing.

About half way up the deposit on the mountain side a number of small
rivulets take their rise, having sulphur in solution, and farther down
the mountain and near the base are the dry beds of several streams from
ten to twenty feet in width which bear evidence of having at some time
been full to the banks (two or three feet deep) with sulphur water. The
small streams now running are warm.

The side of the mountain over which we rode, seems for the most part to
be hollow, giving forth a rumbling sound beneath the feet, as we rode
upon the crust, which is very strong. In no instance did it give way as
did the crust at "Crater hill," under which the fires were raging,
though the incrustation appears to be very similar, abounding in vents
and fissures and emitting suffocating exhalations of sulphur vapor.

On the sides of the mountain were old fissures, surrounded by rusty
looking sulphur incrustations, now nearly washed away. The whole
mountain gives evidence of having been, a long time ago, in just the
same condition of conflagration as that in which we found "Crater hill;"
but all outward trace of fire has now disappeared, save what is found in
the warm water of the small streams running down the sides.

Our course for the past two days has been in nearly a south-southeast
direction, or about parallel with the Wind river mountains. We have
to-day seen an abundance of the tracks of elk and bears, and
occasionally the track of a mountain lion.


Wednesday, September 7.--Last night when all but the guards were asleep,
we were startled by a mountain lion's shrill scream, sounding so like
the human voice that for a moment I was deceived by it into believing
that some traveler in distress was hailing our camp. The stream near the
bank of which our camp lay, flows into the southeast arm of Yellowstone
lake, and for which the name "Upper Yellowstone" has been suggested by
some of our party; but Lieutenant Doane says that he thinks he has seen
on an old map the name "Bridger" given to some body of water near the
Yellowstone. We tried to cross the river near its mouth, but found the
mud in the bed of the stream and in the bottom lands adjoining too deep;
our horses miring down to their bellies. In accordance with plans agreed
upon last night, General Washburn and a few of the party started out
this morning in advance of the others to search for a practicable
crossing of the river and marshes, leaving the pack train in camp.

In company with Lieutenant Doane I went out upon a reconnaissance for
the purpose of determining the elevation of the mountains opposite our
camp, as well as the shape of the lake as far as we could see the
shore, and also to determine as far as possible our locality and the
best line of travel to follow in passing around the lake. There is just
enough excitement attending these scouting expeditions to make them a
real pleasure, overbalancing the labor attendant upon them. There is
very little probability that any large band of Indians will be met with
on this side of the lake, owing to the superstitions which originate in
the volcanic forces here found.

We followed along the high bank adjacent to the bottom through which the
river runs in a direction a little south of east for the distance of
about three miles, when we entered a heavily timbered ravine, which we
followed through the underbrush for some three miles, being frequently
obliged to dismount and lead our horses over the projecting rocks, or
plunging through bushes and fallen timber. At the end of two hours we
reached a point in the ascent where we could no longer ride in safety,
nor could our horses climb the mountain side with the weight of our
bodies on their backs. Dismounting, we took the bridle reins in our
hands, and for the space of an hour we led our horses up the steep
mountain side, when we again mounted and slowly climbed on our way,
occasionally stopping to give our horses a chance to breathe. Arriving
at the limit of timber and of vegetation, we tied our horses, and then
commenced the ascent of the steepest part of the mountain, over the
broken granite, great care being necessary to avoid sliding down the
mountain side with the loose granite. The ascent occupied us a little
more than four hours, and all along the mountain side, even to near the
summit, we saw the tracks of mountain sheep. The view from the summit of
this mountain, for wild and rugged grandeur, is surpassed by none I ever
before saw. The Yellowstone basin and the Wind river mountains were
spread out before us like a map. On the south the eye followed the
source of the Yellowstone above the lake, until, twenty-five miles away,
it was lost in an immense canon, beyond which two immense jets of vapor
rose to a height of probably three hundred feet, indicating that there
were other and perhaps greater wonders than those embraced in our
prescribed limit of exploration. On the north the outlet of the lake and
the steam from the mud geyser and mud volcano were distinctly visible,
while on the southeast the view followed to the horizon a succession of
lofty peaks and ridges at least thirty miles in width, whose jagged
slopes were filled with yawning caverns, pine-embowered recesses and
beetling precipices, some hundreds and some thousands of feet in height.
This is the range which Captain Raynolds, approaching from the east,
found impassable while on his exploring tour to the Yellowstone in the
year 1860. I shall, upon my return home, read Captain Raynolds' report
with renewed interest.[N]

The mountain on which we stood was the most westerly peak of a range
which, in long extended volume, swept to the southeastern horizon,
exhibiting a continuous elevation more than thirty miles in width, its
central line broken into countless points, knobs, glens and defiles, all
on the most colossal scale of grandeur and magnificence. Outside of
these, on either border, along the entire range, lofty peaks rose at
intervals, seemingly vying with each other in the varied splendors they
presented to the beholder. The scene was full of majesty. The valley at
the base of this range was dotted with small lakes. Lakes abound
everywhere--in the valleys, on the mountains and farther down on their
slopes, at all elevations. The appearance of the whole range was
suggestive of the existence, ages since, of a high plateau on a level
with these peaks (which seemed to be all of the same elevation), which
by the action of the water had been cut down in the intervals between
the peaks into deep gorges and canons. The sides of the mountains formed
in many places a perpendicular wall from 600 to 1,000 feet in height.

This range of mountains has a marvelous history. As it is the loftiest,
so it is probably the most remarkable lateral ridge of the Rocky range.
In the expedition sent across the continent by Mr. Astor, in 1811, under
command of Captain Wilson P. Hunt, that gentleman met with the first
serious obstacle to his progress at the eastern base of this range.
After numerous efforts to scale it, he turned away and followed the
valley of Snake river, encountering the most discouraging disasters
until he arrived at Astoria.[O]

I have read somewhere (I think in Washington Irving's "Astoria" or
"Bonneville's Adventures") that the Indians regard this ridge of
mountains as the crest of the world, and that among the Blackfeet there
is a fable that he who attains its summit catches a view of the "Land of
Souls" and beholds the "Happy Hunting Grounds" spread out below him,
brightening with the abodes of the free and generous spirits.

Lieutenant Doane and I were somewhat fatigued with our climb of four
hours' duration, and we refreshed ourselves with such creature comforts
as we found on the summit; but, although we attained the "crest," we did
not discern any "free and generous spirit," save that which we saw
"through a glass darkly."

At the point where we left our horses there was, on the east slope of
the mountain, a body of snow, the surface of which was nearly
horizontal, and the outer edge of which was thirty feet in perpendicular
height. This body of snow is perpetual. At this point the elevation, as
indicated by our aneroid barometer, was 9,476 feet, while at the summit
it was 10,327 feet, a difference of 581 feet, which was the broken
granite summit.

The descent occupied an hour and a quarter, when we struck the trail of
the pack train near the base of the mountain, which we followed until we
found three poles placed in the form of a tripod, the longer pole
pointing to the right to indicate that at this point the party had
changed its course.

[Illustration: Marker made of sticks.]

Obeying this Indian sign, we descended the bank bordering the valley and
traversed the bottom lands to the river, which we forded at a point
where it was about ninety feet wide and three feet deep, with a current
of about six miles an hour. This was about six or seven miles from the
mouth of the river. We followed the trail of the advance party through a
beautiful pine forest, free from underbrush, for the distance of two
miles, passing two beautiful lakes. By this time night had overtaken us,
and it was with difficulty that we could follow the trail, the tracks of
the horses' shoes, which were our sole guide, being hardly discernible.
But we pressed on, following the dark, serpentine line of freshly
disturbed earth till it turned up the side of the mountain, where we
followed it for upwards of a mile. Fearing lest we were not upon the
right trail, we dismounted, and, placing our faces close to the ground,
examined it carefully, but could not discover the impression of a single
horseshoe. Gathering a few dry branches of pine, we kindled a fire upon
the trail, when we discovered that we had been following, from the base
of the mountain, the trail of a band of elk that had crossed the line of
travel of the pack train at a point near the base of the mountain, and
in the dim twilight we had not discovered the mistake.

[Illustration: MAP OF YELLOWSTONE LAKE, AS KNOWN BETWEEN 1860 AND 1870.
FROM THE MAP OF RAYNOLDS' EXPEDITION OF 1860.]

The prospect for a night on the mountain, without blankets or supper,
seemed now very good; but we retraced our steps as rapidly as possible,
and on reaching the base of the mountain, struck out for the lake,
resolving to follow the beach, trusting that our party had made their
camp on the shore of the lake, in which case we should find them; but
if camped at any considerable distance from the shore, we should not
find them. Our ride over fallen timber and through morass for the
distance of about two miles to the shore of the lake was probably
performed more skillfully in the darkness of the night than if we had
seen the obstacles in our path, and as we rounded a point on the smooth
beach we saw at a distance of a little over a mile the welcome watch
fire of our comrades. When we arrived within hailing distance we gave a
loud halloo, and the ready response by a dozen sympathetic voices of our
companions-in-arms showed that our own anxiety had been shared by them.
Our camp to-night is on the westerly side of the most southeasterly bay
of the lake. These bays are separated by long points of land extending
far out into the lake. From our camp of two days ago some of these
points seemed to be islands. From the top of the mountain, which Doane
and I ascended to-day, I made an outline map of the north and east sides
of the lake and part of the south side; but on account of the heavy
timber on the promontories I could not make a correct outline of the
south and west shores. General Washburn and Hauser, as well as myself,
have thus far made outlines of the lake shore as best we could from
points on a level with the lake, but these have been unsatisfactory and
have lacked completeness, and Washburn and Hauser have both expressed
their satisfaction with the sketch of the lake shore I made to-day from
the top of the mountain; and Washburn has just told me that Lieutenant
Doane has suggested that, as I was the first to reach the summit of the
mountain, the peak should be named for me. I shall be gratified if this
is done.[P]

[Illustration: MAP OF YELLOWSTONE LAKE. COPY OF THE ORIGINAL OUTLINE
SKETCHED BY NATHANIEL P. LANGFORD FROM THE TOP OF MOUNT LANGFORD, SEPT.
7, 1870, AND COMPLETED SEPT. 10 AND 13.]

We have traveled from our morning camp about twelve miles, but we are
not more than four miles from it in a straight line.


Thursday, September 8.--Travel to-day has led us in zigzag directions
over fallen timber some twelve miles. We have halted on a small creek
about one mile from the most southerly arm of the lake and about seven
miles in a straight line from our morning camp.

This has been a terrible day for both men and horses. The standing trees
are so thick that we often found it impossible to find a space wide
enough for the pack animals to squeeze through, and we were frequently
separated from each other in a search for a route. Hedges and Stickney,
in this way, became separated from the rest of the party, and after
suffering all the feelings of desolation at being lost in this
wilderness, accidentally stumbled upon our camp, and they freely
expressed their joy at their good fortune in being restored to the
party. I fully sympathized with them, for, speaking from a personal
experience of a similar character which I had in 1862, I can say that a
man can have no more complete sense of utter desolation than that which
overwhelms him when he realizes that he is lost.

At one point while they were seeking some sign of the trail made by the
rest of the party, a huge grizzly bear dashed by them, frightening
Hedges' horse, which broke his bridle and ran away.

After supper Washburn and Hauser went up on the ridge back of the camp
to reconnoiter and ran across a she grizzly and her two cubs. Being
unarmed, they hastily returned to camp for their guns, and five or six
of us joined them in a bear hunt. The members of this hunting party were
all elated at the thought of bagging a fine grizzly, which seemed an
easy prey. What could one grizzly do against six hunters when her
instinctive duty would lead her to hurry her little ones to a place of
safety!

While putting our guns in order and making other preparations for the
attack, an animated discussion took place concerning a proper
disposition of the two cubs which were to be captured alive. Some of our
party thought that they ought to be carried home to Helena, but Bean and
Reynolds, our packers, being appealed to, thought the plan not feasible
unless they could be utilized as pack animals. When we reached the spot
where Washburn and Hauser had last seen the bear, we traced her into a
dense thicket, which, owing to the darkness, we did not care to
penetrate, for not one of us felt that we had lost that particular bear.
Jake Smith, with more of good sense than usual, but with his usual lack
of scriptural accuracy, remarked, "I always considered Daniel a great
fool to go into a den of bears."[Q]

Our journey for the entire day has been most trying, leading us through
a trackless forest of pines encumbered on all sides by prostrate trunks
of trees. The difficulty of urging forward our pack train, making choice
of routes, extricating the horses when wedged between the trees, and
re-adjusting the packs so that they would not project beyond the
sides of the horses, required constant patience and untiring toil,
and the struggle between our own docility and the obstacles in our way,
not unfrequently resulted in fits of sullenness or explosions of wrath
which bore no slight resemblance to the volcanic forces of the country
itself.

[Illustration: Benj. Stickney]

On one of these occasions when we were in a vast net of down timber and
brush, and each man was insisting upon his own particular mode of
extrication, and when our tempers had been sorely tried and we were in
the most unsocial of humors, speaking only in half angry expletives, I
recalled that beautiful line in Byron's "Childe Harold," "There is a
pleasure in the pathless woods," which I recited with all the "ore
rotundo" I could command, which struck the ludicrous vein of the company
and produced an instantaneous response of uproarious laughter, which, so
sudden is the transition between extremes, had the effect to restore
harmony and sociability, and, in fact, to create a pleasure in the
pathless wilderness we were traveling.

One of our pack horses is at once a source of anxiety and amusement to
us all. He is a remarkable animal owned by Judge Hedges, who, however,
makes no pretentious to being a good judge of horses. Mr. Hedges says
that the man from whom he purchased the animal, in descanting upon his
many excellent qualities, said: "He is that kind of an animal that
drives the whole herd before him." The man spoke truly, but Mr. Hedges
did not properly interpret the encomium, nor did he realize that the
seller meant to declare that the animal, from sheer exhaustion, would
always be lagging behind the others of the herd. From the start, and
especially during our journey through the forest, this pony, by his
acrobatic performances and mishaps, has furnished much amusement for us
all. Progress to-day could only be accomplished by leaping our animals
over the fallen trunks of trees. Our little broncho, with all the
spirit necessary, lacks oftentimes the power to scale the tree trunks.
As a consequence, he is frequently found resting upon his midriff with
his fore and hind feet suspended over the opposite sides of some huge
log. "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." He has an
ambitious spirit, which is exceeded only by his patience. He has had
many mishaps, any one of which would have permanently disabled a larger
animal, and we have dubbed him "Little Invulnerable." One of the
soldiers of our escort, Private Moore, has made a sketch of him as he
appeared to-day lying across a log, of which I am to have a copy.

[Illustration: LITTLE INVULNERABLE.]

I growled at Hauser and scolded him a little in camp to-night because of
some exasperating action of his. I here record the fact without going
into details. I think that I must try to be more patient. But I am
feeling somewhat the fatigue of our journey. However, there is something
to be said on the other hand, and that is that there is no one of the
party better able to bear its labors and anxieties than I, and therefore
I should be the last man to lose my patience.

I know of nothing that can try one's patience more than a trip of any
considerable length by wagon train or pack train through an uninhabited
region, and the most amiable of our race cannot pass this ordeal
entirely unscathed. Persons who are not blessed with uncommon equanimity
never get through such a journey without frequent explosions of temper,
and seldom without violence. Even education, gentle training and the
sharpest of mental discipline do not always so effectually subdue the
passions that they may not be aroused into unwonted fury during a long
journey through a country filled with obstructions. Philosophy has never
found a fitter subject for its exercise than that afforded by the
journey we are now making, which obliges the members of our party to
strive to relieve each other's burdens.


Friday, September 9.--Last night there occurred an incident which I
would gladly blot from these pages, but a faithful record of all the
events of camp life in connection with this expedition demands that I
omit nothing of interest, nor set down "aught in malice."

Mr. Hedges and I were on guard during the last relief of the night,
which extends from the "Wee sma' hours ayont the twal" to daybreak. The
night was wearing on when Hedges, being tempted of one of the Devils
which doubtless roam around this sulphurous region, or that perhaps
followed Lieutenant Doane and myself down from that "high mountain
apart" where the spirits roam, asked me if I was hungry. I replied that
such had been my normal condition ever since our larder had perceptibly
declined. Mr. Hedges then suggested that, as there was no food already
cooked in the camp, we take each a wing of one of the partridges and
broil it over our small fire. It was a "beautiful thought," as Judge
Bradford of Colorado used to say from the bench when some knotty legal
problem relating to a case he was trying had been solved, and was
speedily acted upon by both of us. But I was disappointed in finding so
little meat on a partridge wing, and believed that Hedges would have
chosen a leg instead of a wing, if he had pondered a moment, so I
remedied the omission, and, as a result, each roasted a leg of the bird.
Soon increase of appetite grew by what it fed on, and the breast of the
bird was soon on the broiler.

In the meantime our consciences were not idle, and we were "pricked in
our hearts." The result was that we had a vision of the disappointment
of our comrades, as each should receive at our morning breakfast his
small allotment of but one partridge distributed among so many, and it
did not take us long to send the remaining bird to join its mate. Taking
into consideration the welfare of our comrades, it seemed the best thing
for us to do, and we debated between ourselves whether the birds would
be missed in the morning, Hedges taking the affirmative and I the
negative side of the question.

This morning when our breakfast was well nigh finished, Mr. Hauser asked
"Newt," the head cook, why he had not prepared the partridges for
breakfast. "Newt" answered that when he opened the pan this morning the
birds had "done gone," and he thought that "Booby" (the dog) had eaten
them. Whereupon Hauser pelted the dog with stones and sticks. Hedges and
I, nearly bursting with our suppressed laughter, quietly exchanged
glances across the table, and the situation became quite intense for us,
as we strove to restrain our risibles while listening to the comments of
the party on the utter worthlessness of "that dog Booby." Suddenly the
camp was electrified by Gillette asking, "Who was on guard last night?"
"That's it," said one. "That's where the birds went," said another. This
denouement was too much for Hedges and myself, and amid uproarious
laughter we made confession, and "Booby" was relieved from his disgrace
and called back into the camp, and patted on the head as a "good dog,"
and he has now more friends in camp than ever before.

Mr. Hauser, who brought down the birds with two well directed shots with
his revolver, made from the back of his horse without halting the
animal, had expected to have a dainty breakfast, but he is himself too
fond of a practical joke to express any disappointment, and no one in
the party is more unconcerned at the outcome than he. He is a
philosopher, and, as I know from eight years' association with him, does
not worry over the evils which he can remedy, nor those which he cannot
remedy. There can be found no better man than he for such a trip as we
are making.

"Booby" is taking more kindly, day by day, to the buckskin moccasins
which "Newt" made and tied on his feet a few days ago. When he was first
shod with them he rebelled and tore them off with his teeth, but I think
he has discovered that they lessen his sufferings, which shows that he
has some good dog sense left, and that probably his name "Booby" is a
misnomer. I think there is a great deal of good in the animal. He is
ever on the alert for unusual noises or sounds, and the assurance which
I have that he will give the alarm in case any thieving Indians shall
approach our camp in the night is a great relief to my anxiety lest some
straggling band of the Crows may "set us afoot." Jake Smith was on guard
three nights ago, and he was so indifferent to the question of safety
from attack that he enjoyed a comfortable nap while doing guard duty,
and I have asked our artist, Private Moore, to make for me a sketch of
Smith as I found him sound asleep with his saddle for a pillow. Jake
might well adopt as a motto suitable for his guidance while doing guard
duty, "Requieseat in pace." Doubtless Jake thought, "Shall I not take
mine ease in mine inn?" I say _thought_ for I doubt if Jake can give a
correct verbal rendering of the sentence. A few evenings ago he jocosely
thought to establish, by a quotation from Shakespeare, the unreliability
of a member of our party who was telling what seemed a "fish story," and
he clinched his argument by adding that he would apply to the case the
words of the immortal Shakespeare, "Othello's _reputation's_ gone."

[Illustration: JAKE SMITH, GUARDING THE CAMP FROM HOSTILE INDIAN ATTACK.
"REQUIESCAT IN PACE."]

We broke camp this morning with the pack train at 10 o'clock, traveling
in a westerly course for about two miles, when we gradually veered
around to a nearly easterly direction, through fallen timber almost
impassable in the estimation of pilgrims, and indeed pretty severe on
our pack horses, for there was no trail, and, while our saddle horses
with their riders could manage to force their way through between the
trees, the packs on the pack animals would frequently strike the trees,
holding the animals fast or compelling them to seek some other passage.
Frequently, we were obliged to re-arrange the packs and narrow them, so
as to admit of their passage between the standing trees. At one point
the pack animals became separated, and with the riding animals of a
portion of the party were confronted with a prostrate trunk of a huge
tree, about four feet in diameter, around which it was impossible to
pass because of the obstructions of fallen timber. Yet pass it we must;
and the animals, one after another, were brought up to the log, their
breasts touching it, when Williamson and I, the two strongest men of the
party, on either side of an animal, stooped down, and, placing each a
shoulder back of a fore leg of a horse, rose to an erect position, while
others of the party placed his fore feet over the log, which he was thus
enabled to scale. In this way we lifted fifteen or twenty of our animals
over the log.

Soon after leaving our camp this morning our "Little Invulnerable,"
while climbing a steep rocky ascent, missed his footing and turned three
back summersaults down into the bottom of the ravine. We assisted him to
his feet without removing his pack, and he seemed none the worse for his
adventure, and quickly regained the ridge from which he had fallen and
joined the rest of the herd.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon we halted for the day, having traveled
about six miles, but our camp to-night is not more than three miles from
our morning camp.

Mr. Hedges' pack horse, "Little Invulnerable," was missing when we