Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-07-30
md one was accordingly planted and main

and one was accordingly planted and main
tanned there throughout last winter OF
course, buildings were required to shelter the
officers, soldiers and animals in that severe
climate and they were accordingly erected;
some of the timber being transported from
this post-a distance of fully eight miles In
the main, however, they are built of pine logs
from the adjacent mountains, the crevices
being plastered with mud. In the spring the
troops were very properly withdrawn, leaving
half dozen good Serviceable houses and
superior horse-shed and corral untenanted
Hereupon, three lazy louis have squatted on
to the premises, intending to start a city there
and to hold and sell the Governmet structures
under a claim Of preemption OF course in
the absence Of any United States Survey,
with the Indian title still unextinguished this
claim is most impudent, but that will not pre-
vent their asserting it. and | fear with success
Their interest on one side will be strong they
can threaten to exert a political influence
tavorably or adversely as the case may be, to
those whom they find in power; if they are
only tenacious enough, impudent enough
they will probably carry their point. Yet they
might as fairly preempt the White House, at
Washington, should they ever chance to find
it vacant
We drove on across badly quilted region
wherein are the heads of Horse Creek-the
first stream on our route that runs to the
North Platte-and struck the Chugwater just
where it emerged from the moentans about
IL A. NJ. Thence we followed down this creek
more than forty miles, crossing it four times
aud finally leaving it on our left to follow to
the Laramie river eight or ten miles above
this place.
The Chugwater is a rapid, muddy mill
stream, running in q deep narrow, tortuous
channel, and constantly gouging into one
hnnly 9TH 10, IL,
and some other small shrubs oppose the resist
ance of their matted roots to the force of the
current. The rocky hills sometimes crowd
the stream closely, compelling the road to
make circuit over the high prairie adjacent,
to avoid the impracticabe canons through
which the stream fretS and foams on its devious
way. The cred Buttes," are numerous and
conspicuous on the upper course OF this creek
the ochry earth or rock which gives them their
peculiar color being accounted a rich iron ore.
On the lower bottoms Of this stream, we found
far better grass than elsewhere on this journey
But the day was hot, and our mules suffered
so much from mosquitoes and flies that they
ate tittully and sparingly where we halted for
dinner, and again where we stopped for the
night. We were unable to stop where the
grass was best, because we could not there get
our animals down to water.
We made our last camp at a point thirty
miles from this post having made 100 miles in
three days steady travel, hampered by the ne
cessity of finding grass and water for our
beasts With grain, [ think they would easily
have made siXty-fiye miles per day. We
stopped beside a stone and mud shanty of very
rude construction, where a Frenchman had
this spring made small dam across the Chug-
water, so as to irrigate and fence Thy ditch
small piece of intervale, on which he had at
tempted to grow some grains and vegetables,
with tar promise of success. He was absent,
and no person or domestic animal to be seen
about his place. The night was uncommonly
warm for this region-the mosquitoes a good
deal more attentive than obliging. We rose
early again, came on ten miles for breakfast
passing almost continually between two rows
Of magnificent Bpltes, often looking in the
distance like more or less ruined castles one
of them reminded me strongly of the Roman
Coliseum. Two miles after breakfast, we
crossed the Chugwater for the last time and
LETT 1t running north TO the Laramie, while we
struck a more easterly course for this place
Two miles further on, we came to a most eX-
cellent spring-the first | had seen since L
emerged from the Rocky Mountains, by Clear
Creek, two weeks before. had been poison
ed by brook water-often warm and muddy
so long, that l could hardly get enough of this.
We now passed over twelve or fifteen miles of
high, rolling, parched, barren prairie, and
and halted for dinner by little brook-the
only one that crosses our trail between the
Chugwater and Laramie-after which we drove
down opposite this place in an hour but were
obliged to go two miles below, and pay 81 so
bridge toll to get across the Laramie, now very
high, and looking decidedly larger at their
junction than the North Platte itself.
l have been tediously minute in my record
of this cross-march to reach the high road to
dc how