New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-07-26
AN OVERLAND JOURNEY.
XVI.
FROM DENVER TO LARAMIE.


~. arc tvo rosds thence to this point: that
-.,.r, preferred follows down the east fork ofthe
sou,h Platte some forty miles, crossing that river
near St vrain's Fort, thus avoiding several rapid
and ificult creeks and crossing Cache le-Poudre
sear rs mouth, where Ike nesrly all these streams
4 in broader and sbsllOwer than where II issues
from the Rocky Mountains Ny guide had expect
I'd 10 take thjs route tl the last moment, when ne
learned that the South Platte was entirely %" hign
"a be furded near st. Vrain's Fort, or any "hefo
else. and that there now no ferry-ooat Tor Two
A.sdred miles below Denver, 10 he had no choice
Int IN take the upper mountain route. % we
.ro,,,d the Platte directly at Denver, and
(..r Creek some three or four miles below
ne road ~ Gregory's Digginss, by btd,
difficult ford, embellished BY some half
Dozen deep, ugly "sloushs' in the bottom on
either tide the creek being high that the bottom
was flooded in part, and eery miry. We pushed
On ten miles further and camped for the night OPP
posite Boulder City" log hamlet tot some thirty
labitaton. covering the entrance TO Boulder
Dissings," twelve miles westward IN the 0ount-
Ans. Here we found four wagons, two OF them
With bor,e- teams, each conveying the luggage OF
for or FIVE men who, having taken look at this
Gold Region, had decided to push on for Cator-
Ms, mainly, / believe, through what is known as
Ne Cherokee trail" which forms the shortest
route from Denver to Salt Lake. was strongly
sempted at ID. TO join one of these parties and go
fAroush this pass-had stood firmly on both fset,
i ,biDk should have done il, saving distance, bat
s,ipg time. We all csmped for the night beside
anal brook, the ripping Of whose wsters over It's
pebby bed fell soO,biDgy on the dro"sy ear
As1 the wagon 70 myself for a bed-chamoer, while
ny three companions spread their buffalo akin aud
llsAb cts On the grass and had the vault Of heaven
for their ceiling The night was cool and
breezy; our mules were plcketed on the
p,tss at short distance; our supper OF
ffsd pork and pilot bread had not surfei'ed us;
end We slept quietly till the frat dawn OF day,
when our mules were quickly barnessed, and We
kfs our fellow campers still torpid, pushing on
Af,etn miles and crossing two deep, swift steep
banked creeks (St. Vrain's Fork aud branch Of
TSompsons Creek) before stopping for feed and
breakfast. After two hOars' rest, we hsInessed up
and made twenty miles more before stopping, at
NE crossing of the other fork of Thompson's
Creek, for dinner Here we found a caravan NOV.
ipr from Missouri to California, which reminded
mo Of the DAYS OF Abraham and Lot. 1t comprised
six or seven heavy wagons, mainly drawn by oxen,
With light travelling carriage and pair OF horses
conveying the patrisrchs family, some two or three
hundred head of cow, steers, and young cattle,
With three or four young men on horseback driving
and keeping the herd. Girls were milking, women
cooking or washing, children playing--in short,
here was the material for a very fair settlement
or quite an imposing Kansas City. They hitched
sp and moved on before u.s. but we very soon over
nook and passed them There are scores of such
AArayans now on the various roads To CalliJraia,
nsDy Of which will see very hard times ere they
reach Carson Valley, and some still harder before
tbey get fairly across the Sierra Nevada. Many OF
them are behind time; the fecd-for much OF the
way sesnty at best-has been desoured by the cattle
ahead Of them, the drouth forbds the growth OF
more until September, in which month snow begins
r. fall heavily on the Sierra Nevada And 1t Will
cot terd to rouse their tagging spirits to meet-as
am well assured they must-simllar caravans OF
people who, having tried California to their full
satisfaction, are moving back to Missouri again
Was there ever another such vagrant restless, dis
soptented people, pretending to be civilized as
eoIsi
Pushing on steadily, over reasonably Level
country, though crossed by many deep and
steep. banked dry gulles, and perhaps one petty
living stream, we stood at 3 p. h on the south
IaDk of Cache lie. Poudre, 20 miles from Denver,
and BY far the mos. formidable stream between the
South Platte and the Laramie. Our conductor
was as brave as mOuntsneer need be, but he
was wary as WELL and had many people
drowned in fording such streams, especially the
Green River branch of the Colorado, that he chose
10 feel his way carefully. SO he waited and
observed for an hour or more, meantime sending
word to an old French mountaneer friend from
Utah, who has pitched his tent here that his help
was wanted. There had been ferry boat at this
crossing till two nights before when it went down
stream, and had not since been heard of. horse
man we met some miles below assured us that
there was no crossing; but this found mis-
take-two men mounted on strong horses crossing
safely before our eyes, and two heayy-lsden OK
wagons succeeded them in doing the same, save
that one of them stuck in the stream and the oxen
had to be taken off and driven out, being unable to
pull it, while themselves half buried in the swim
current. But these crossings were made from the
other side where the entrance was better and tina
current rather favored the passage; the ox-wag
ons were held to the bottomby the weight oftheir
loads, while ours was light and likely TO be swept
down stream. At length, our French friend
appeared mounted on powerful horse, with
Indian attendant on another such. lie advised us
to stay where We were for the night, promising to
come in the morning with heavy ox.tean aud