Wisconsin herald, and Grant County advertiser. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1844-1845, 1845-10-04

appeared i had entered the store-house
Of the thunder storms. continued,
however, to ride along up the river un-
ill aboIt sunset, and was beginning to
be doubtful of finding the springs be-
fore the next day, when came sud-
denly upon large smooth rock, about
twenty yards in diameter, where the
water from several springs was bub-
bling and boiling M in the midst of
white incrustation with which it had
covered portion Of the rock. AS this
did not correspond with the description
given me by the hunters, ! did not stop
to taste the water; but dismounting,
walked little way up the river, and
passing through a narrow thicket OF
sbrubbery bordering the stream, step
ped directly upon huge white rock. at
the foot of which the river, already be-
come torrent, foamed along, broken
by small fall. A deer which had
been drinking at the spring, was star
tied by my approach, and, springlng
across the river, bounded off up the
mountain
In the upper part of the rock which
had apparently been formed by depo-
sition, was beautiful white basin, ov-
erhung by currant bushes, in which the
cold clear water dubbed up, Kept in
constant motion by the escaping gas,
and OVERLOOKING the rock, which it had
almost entirely covered with smooth
crust of glistening white. / had all
the day RETAINED from drinking, re-
serving myself for the spring; and as |
could not well be more wet than the
rain had already made me, / lay down
by the side of the basin, and drank
heartily Of the delightful water. The
annexed sketch is only rude one, but
it will enable you to form some idea Of
the character Of the scenery and the
beauty ofthe spot, Immediately at the
foot of lofty mountains, beautifully tim
bered, which sweep closely round,
shutting up the little valley in kind Of
cove. As it was beginning to grow
dark, | rode quickly down the river,
upon which found the camp a few
miles below"
"The morning Of the 18th was beau
tiful and clear, and all the people be-
ing anxious to drink Of these famous
waters, we encamped Immediately at
the springs, and spent there very
pleasant day. On the opposite side
of the riveris anotherlo locality ofsprings,
which are entirely Of the same nature.
The water had very agreeable taste,
which Mr.. Prcuss found very much to
resemble that of the famous Setter
springs in the grand duchy of Nassau"
July 20.-The narrative states:
ave continued our march up the
stream, along a green sloping bottom,
between pine hills on the one hand,
and the main Black Hills on the other,
toward the ridge which separates the
waters of the Platte from those of the
Arkansas. As we approached the di-
viding ridge, the whole valley was ra-
diant with flowers; blue, yellow, pink,
white, scarlet, and purple, We'd with
each other in splendor. Espacettc was
one of the highly characteristic plants.
and a bright looking (gsiilardia aris-
tata) was very frequent; but the most
abundant plant along our road to-day
was geranium macuiatum, which
is the characteristic plant on this por-
ton Of the dividing grounds. Cros-
sing to the waters Of the Platte, fields
OF blue flax added to the magnfccnce
Of this mountain garden: this was &C.
four feet in height, which
was a luxuriance ofgrowth that | rare
ly saw this almost universal plant attain
the Journey"
The party were on the second OF
August on fork Of the Laramie riv-
err, in latitude al deg, is min. 80 sec
and longitude LOG deg. Al min. %
sec.
DAT this place (says Captain FIRE.
monD | became first acquainted with
the yampah (aHethum ,grapeolens)
which | found our Snake women en-
gagged in digging in the low timbered
bottom of the creek. Among the IT.
dams along the Rocky Mountains, and
more particular among the Shoshonee,
or Snake Indians, in whose territory !
it is very abundant, this is considered
the best among the roots used for food.
To us, it was an interesting plant-a
little link between the civil and savage
4 = 1.