The daily Minnesota pioneer., 1855-04-17

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~ ''''''.,@ s44 ''A aoJ SAMPSON
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,WxsHrSsroN, April l, 1854.
IR:-In obedience to your iinstmctions,
dated May 5, 1851, Ioproceeded to st.; Louis,
accompanied by my assistant, Mr.: 3. s.Tilt0n,
corps of engineers, and there organized. party
for the survey of the Mendoza military, road.
Having laid in, our supplies, we took. passage
in the steamer I'll Paso for Council Blaff City,
which we reached after a pleasant trip, of, ten
days. .s.s.. = z 'a1a.usG = = MI
BY the advice of Colonel Robert Campbell,
Of st. Louis, to whom We are under. many OBJ.
ligatiOns we procured our horses and oxen at
Weston and Council Bluff, and having com
pleted our outfit at the latter place, We com
menced our march up the Missouri river to the
mouth Of the Big Sioux. So go az ro0,t '~
I'VE followed the road to Fort Pierre, on the
left bank Of the river; meeting with little diff
Guilty, except at the crossing of the Little
Sioux, where We were, two. days IN passing over
six miles of overaowed bottoms, or wet prairie,
extending from the bluffs to the river. Here
the oxen miretl, and we hadA to transport the
baggage, provisions and instruments, by hand,
and by the same means to drag the empty
wagons q However, in dry weather this route
offers no obstacle to teams, all the streams be-
ing bridged or having ferries over them. s--4t
The bottoms along the Missouri are from
five to fifteen miles broad, of rich auvial soil,
with occasional p. city groves of cottonwood
and oak; which relieve the otherwise monoto-
nous scenery. There are as yet very few set
tiers in this region, but, as the grass is very
fire, it will before long be in great demand for
raising cattle for the 4 alifornia and Oregon
emigrants-a very lucrative business, and rap
idly increasing in inimportance eco - "r'-- =
The climate is healthy, and not subject to
as great extremes of heat and cold as in the
same latitude on our Atlantic coast. 49,
After march of 100 miles, we .aMiyed at
arsettlement called Bluff City. 1t has al ex-
cellent landing, and the suhstratum being of
limestone, preserves it from the encroachmel}ts
Of the ever-changing Missouri-a great desid-
eratum along the whole of,the upper Missouri,
which is constantly shifting its sand bars,
changing its channels, and, washing away its
banks. There is considerable timber in the
vicinity, and the soil is. very rich As yet
there are but few settlers, and these are mostly
French voyage IT'S who, having become tired
of service with the Fur Company, have select
ed this place as their home, and, with Indian
and halfbreed wives, they seem TO enjoy a
happy and contentedl life.l They cultivate a
few acres Of corn and potatoes game and fish
supplying their other simple wants. -
But new era is about to dawn. Tie rest
less and enterprising Anglo Saxon, has, within
the last year, set his foot here and laid out Q
town It certain indication that the regiob
has passed forever from the Indian and his
mercurial friend, the yoyageur.
At our encampment on FlOyd's creek June
Is, we lost, by drowning, one Of our number,
Cyrus Scott, of Kentu,ky-a young man, who
in his short service with us, had by his amia-
bility and many good qualities, gained the
good opinion of all. He was bathing in the
creek, and getting. into deep water, and pot be-
ing able to swim, be persisted before any as
sistance could be rendered. j. a. -. -
We arrived at the mouth OF the Big Sioux
on the 18th OF June, and pitched our camp on
the farm Of Mr.. Bruyere, u Canadian French-
man, who having married 9 woman o. the
Sioux tribe, has lived here for twenty years;
exercising most beneficial influence over all
the Indians in the vicinity. ~, ID .s.,.s I'D
We regretted not finding him at homo, hay
ing calculated on getting some valuable infor-
nation from him concerning our, proposed
route, he being ono Of the very few white per-
sons that has ever made the trip from the Mis-.
souri, to the mouth of the Minnesota, and lbs
farm being the last vtstige of civilization We
were to meet for l8O milesa xm
We could not obtain any white person foG
guide, so we engaged an Indian who profess
ed to be we'll acquainted with the country but
for some unknown reason, he left the third day
without giving us the slightest notice, and we
say ldmsno mors 4 Hex&AS Of titaei iasS Saahce
however, having very inadequate idea of the
kind Of country best suited for a good road,
and not ut all disposed to comprehend the in
structions OF the engineer to avoid the hills
his idea of q good road being the shortest dis
tance between two points that could be passed
over on horseback. 'e e''@-'@
The country in the vicinity of the mouth of
the Big Sioux and beyond the bottoms of the
Missouri is broken and desolate region, des,
titute of timber, and presenting an endless
succession Of cOnical hills from 50 to $50 feet
in height, of thin sandy sol, covered with wild
sage'aad dEthhS short hS& Gslhis country sm-
braces several hundred square miles east of the
Big Sioux, and is called in the vernacular the
Potato Hill Country" from its resemblance
to series Of vast potato hills. Possessing
neither minerals nor timber, and on Indifferent
soil, it can never be Of much value, and it il
probable that the deer and elk will long roam
undisturbed over its uninviting solitudes.
For convenience in making nnt tho aSt;p,of fo,