Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1862-02-05
THE HERALD.
Letter From Jams More to His Pields .lllorala-
Ills Notes and Advice.
PrArnusS, California, Dec 2sth 10

o. i along, what thought of the country,
&c, and in order 70 comply with the r
quests Of SO many, with ;he most ease %
myself as vel! as | suppose give the best |
general satisfaction, have concluded to
publish lie following outline Of tbs circun-
stances Of our travel:
In the first place, we started from home
the ID day Of May, with two teams one OF
horses, and one Of oxen; stopped TO make
two three farewell calls in the first two
or three days, crossel thu Mississippi river
Oh the 9Th from Dunleith % Dubuque,
Travelled through to Council Bluls three
hundred and fifty miles distant from Du-
buduc, crossed the Missouri river on the
3oth, was detained somewhat on account
Of excessive rains IN muddy roads through
Iowa, for the fertility OF its soil and
beauty of its prairies, take it all through
is unsurpassed by any country ever saw,
but the great scarcity of timber and the
cold winters added to the excessive winds
on It's large prairies will always make 1t
iuconvenient to al and unpleasant to any
except men Of iron constitutions; from the
Missouri river at Omaha we travelled west
ward up on the north side OF Platte river
70 Fort Larililie, six hundred miles on all
most entirely leYe and hard good roads
through Nebraska Territory, the first three
hundred miles OF which road is partly or
thinly settled and is a beautiful prairie val
lev country Of good soil capable Of produ-
cling any kind Of grain or vegetables that
are cultivated in the same latitude in the
States, but it is almost entirely destitute
of timber except on the low OF oyerfi wed
lands Immediately on the river OF which
cotton wood is tolerably plenty, with occa-
sional cedar grows on The Islands, suitable
for fencing; in this cou try we found the
Pawnee a. Sioux Indians at war with each
other but both profess. entire friendship for
the whites, A man who wishes to~live a
sort Of frontier or Indian life, hunting Deer
Elk, Antelope, Buffalo DC, would find a
country here that | think would suit him
pretty we'll The upper half Of the road to
Fort Loarimie becomes a sort OF level san
DIV barren plain covered in many parts with
Prickly Pears, good grass on most OF the
oyerlowed lands Immediately on the banks
of the river. From Fort Lorm;e Wecrossed
the Black hills, a sort Of spur or side range
of the Rocky Mountains TO Platte River
again; thence along mp said stream over a
very rough and rugged road to Sweet
Water River, near two hundred miles
from Fort Lorimie; thence along up Sweet
Water River about one hundred and fifty
miles 10 the gap or pass Of the Rocky
Mountains; here we travelled a very mar
row valley with good grass but poor water
except from the river, the water from
Springs, Creeks and Branches being so
strongly impregnated with Alkali that it
was unsafe to use it; this narrow river val
lev was walled in on either side by bare
rock mountains; here we also found and
visited what is called the Saleratus Lake !;
it is round kind Of a lake or basin, about
half mile across, which lake is supplied in
wet seasons of The year from spring or
stream of Alkal water which evaporates
in the dry seasons by the heat Of the sun.
When there, it was in crust of Saleratus.
from one inch to one foot in thickness, as
clear and white as any saleratus and from
the taste as well as further use was found
20 possess the same nature and qualities;
hero we also passed what is called the
Devils Gate, large crsyice or perpendic-
ular chasm, in a point of Rattle Snake
mountains, about twenty feet wide and
four hundred and fifty feet in height above
the water, through which Sweet River runs
near the head springs of this river we took
right hand or olthern new rout (called
Landels out otf,) passed the main ridge Of
the Rocky Mountains without any difficulty
or much labor. We then travelled through
miserable poor, barren country, by Green
Rive mountains and north of Salt Lake 10
Humboldt river; the Green river mount ,ins
the highest we had to cross; here we weie
compelled to ascend six hundred feet above
the snowy range, when the snow was there
lying on the sides Of the mountains in July
and water froze in our camp the nigh: Of
the 2Ist ofJuly over one-fourth OF an inch
thick, and in small quantities at divers
other times; through this country we also
found the Snake and Banake Indians, a
murderons, thieving, treacherous set of
beings, that We were compelled to closely
watch and guard against both night and
day;in fact a large train was robbed BY
them bur few miles ahead Of us, and it
become our good fortune to osertake
the DIST essed and to be able to as
sist them along with our train, about five
hundred miles to where they were assisted
ly United States troops sent out for that
rpose; along down tie Humboldt liver
we found tue Shaw Shawnee and Pa Utas
Indians, a little more friendly than The last,
but ready to steal anything that came in
thar way; along down this valley the
road is tolerably good with grass and will
,ws for fuel Immediately on the banks
of the stream, but it is walled in on either
side by high barren Rocky bluffs or mount
aims unfit for anything unless it is for mi
ting; some valuable discoveries of both
iold and silver have been made within the
last six or eight months all along for about
che hundred miles above the sink Of Hum
boldt: from thence across to Carson River
Is perfect level barren desert of forty
miles; Carson River country, have gen