New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-06-28
AN OVERLAND JOURNEY.
x1-THE KANSAS GOLD DIGGINGS.
IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
Gregory's Diggings, June 9, lS59.

We left Denver at d yesterday morning, IN
wagon drawn by four mules, crossing by rope
ferry the south fork Of the Platte directly. lhls
fork il swift clear cold stream, some thirty rods
wide. fJrdable except when SHOWS are melting III
the mountains Many gold seekers wagons were
waiting TO cross, and more were m omen'y arriving
40 that the ferryman at least must be making HE
p,le out of the digeipgs. Heoceior"aro' our wa!
~. 18th ma, for fifteen miles across a rolling and
well erased prairie, on which one or TWO iar"s
hsa bsen commenced, while two or three persons
have inst established ranches that IA, have
bui,t each bis corral in which c.te are kerded at
,;sbt. while allowed to run at large the praire
Suripe the dsy: 81 so per month IL the nszai
price per head for herding IN this way, ans the
cattle are said 10 DO very well. TIE nners ieave
or send back their Cattle to herd on these Prares
while they prosecute their operations in the noun
tains, where feed is geaerally scarce.
Reaching Clear Creek, properly NesI1er's
Fork)-a cold, swift, rocky bottomed streaIo
which energies just above deep sarrow
csnon from the Rocky Mountans-we left
our wagons, ssddled the mules and fcrded the
creek-and it was oil our mules could do to stem
its impetuous currebt-sscended gentle, grassy
slope 10 the foot Of Rocky Mountsins-wbtch I'D
for an hour seemed almost within stone
throw on our left. Now they were TO be faced
directly. and the prospect was really serious. The
hill on which we were 70 make our first essay 10
climbing rose to hight Of LOCO feet in little
more than mile, the ascent for most OF the DIS
lance being more than one foot in three. never
before saw teams forced up such preciplce; yet
there were wagons with ten or twelve hundred
weight of mining tools, provisions, &c, beng
drspred by four to eight yoke Of oxen up THAI eddy
precpce, with four FIVE men hitting ut the wheels
Of each. The average time consumed IN the ascent
ia An hour and half Our mules, unused to such
work, were vsibly appalled, by it; at first, they re-
si.ted every effort TO force them up, even by ziS'
zsss. Ny companions all walked but was lame
and had TO ride TO my mules intense disgust. lie
Was stubborn but strong and in time bore me safely
~ the summit.
New as this rugged road is-it was first trav-
,rsed five weeks aso tO-day-death had Travelled IL
before me- young man, shot dead while care
Iessly drawing rifle from his wagon lies buried
by the roadside on this mountain. i have heard 81
no many accidents Of this nsture-not less than Il
dozen gold-seekers having been shot in this manner
during the last two monAls-that | marvel at the
careltssness with which firearms are everywhere
handled on this side of the Missouri. Had no sin
gle emierant scross the Plains this season armed
himself, the number Of them alive at this IN )mcnt
would have been greater than it is.
We Travelled some two miles along the crest of
this mountain, then descended, by pitch equally
sharp with the ascent but shorter to ravine, in
which we rested our weary animals and dlned
That dnner-of cold ham, bread aud cheese-was
one of the best relshed of any ever shared. Re
saddling, we climbed another precipice little less
steep-and up and down for ten miles, wnen We
descended into the narrow valley of little branch
Of Clear Creek, and thencefOrward had ten miles
of relatively smooth going, crossing from one valley
"a another over hills of moderate elevation and
easy ascent.
A wilderness of mountains rose all around us,
some higher some lower, but generally very steep,
with sharp narrow ridges for their SUBMITS. Some
of them are thinly erased, between widely scat
tered trees up their sides and on their tops, but
they are generally ,imbered, and mainly with yellow
Pine. some of it quite large, but more of 1t small
and apparently young. High on the mountains this
pine is short and scraggy, while in the ravines 1T
grows tall and sharply but averages not more than
foot in Diameter Hurricanes have frequently
swept these mountains, prostrating the pines by
scores; fires have raysged and declmated them;
STILL pines on the SUBMITS pines on the hlllsdes,
pines even in the Tayines all but universal The
Basam Fir grows spariDgy in the ravines; Hem
lock also, is reported, though have not seen 1t;
but the Quaking Asp or Aspen-which seems but
more delicate species Of Cotton.wood-is thck-set
in the ra,ines, and sometimes appears on the more
moderate activities, as do gooseberry bushes in
the Iayines. Brooks of the purest water murmur
and siDg in every Iayine; springs abound; the air
is sngularly pure and bracing; the Elk black-tailed
Deer and Mountain. Sheep plentiful, except
where disturbed by the thrush of migration;
Grouse are common and bold: the solitude was
sylvan aud perfect until few weeks ago. All is
now being rapidly changed, and not entirely for the
better.
We had a smart shower, with thunder and light
Ming during the afternoon, which compelled us Ia
halt few minutes. Another such this afternoon
indicates that il is a habit Of the country. | am
told however, that, though thunder is common,
rain is generally withheld a! this season, or confined
to a mere sprinkle.
Night EEL upon us, while yet six or ,eyen miles
from the diggings, and We camped in the edge of
the pines on the brow of gentle acclyity, with Il
prospect of grass we'll as water for our weary,
hungry beasts down the slope south of us. Mine
had fallen to his knees in the last water.course we