The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1863-08-18

sterile country, rolling prairie, and be-
tween Lake Traverse and the Sheyenue
River, in only enc spot, Ito be mention
ed presently did l see bust large
enough for a decent toolh-pick. The
Indians may roam over this country un-
Ill the day Of judgment, for all of me,
aud can wish them no worse punish.
ment than to be condemned to inhabit il.
Such myrlads Of grasshoppers as We have
encountered-snapping, kicking intoler-
able nuisances Forever flying in your
lace and putting out ones eyes upon the
march J; in camp getting scalded in the
hot tea, and making dive for the apple
sauce, swarming in and upon the tents,
and even eating holes through the can
vass with their voraclous jaws they are
AS great pest as Pharoah's locus s, and
like them will soon devour what little
green herbage the dry weather has spar.
ed should they continue much longer.
We ran across an army of Irogs one NOR.
ming. high and dry upon the prairie,
their noses pointed towards the setting
sun, and not a sign Of water for miles
around. How they came there, and for
what purpose, cannot tell, but there they
were. Perhaps, like Bishop Taylor, they
believed westward the path of empire
takes its way" and froggydom, with its
blear-eyed king, was taking huge strides
towards the promised land. They might
have been Yankees, seized with an un
comfortable desire for emigration, or, as
military matters seem TO rule nowadays,
they may have caught the spirit of the
age and were an "Expeaaton in hot
haste to crush a rebellion or punish an
enemy.
The ed day Of July we camped by
skunk Lake and despite its euphoni.
Gus name, IL Is the preltest body Of wa
ter we have yet run across. Groves o.
timber lined the shores, several little isl
ands, covered with trees and bushes ia
the waters edge, lent pleasing feature
to the scene, and no. least among the
beauties was an extensive tract Of fresh
green grass, in which our tired and hal
starved mules and horses luxuriated ano
revealed at their will
The water is very shallow, however
of dirty, yellowish hue, and not over
palatable, out filled to OVERLOOKING with
fish, bull-heads and pickere. To sa,
the least, $40 pounds of the latter wer,
caught the afternoon Of our stay, anc
some that | saw weighed from 10 to Il
pounds each.
We made the Sheyenne on the glori
Gus 4th, glorious to those who far ava,
were celebrating i. with professions ant
, music, with songs and orations, with
5onfres and illuminations, with pleasar
pic MICS beneath shady trees, and gor
geous banquets in lordly halls but to us
, warm and weary with weeks march
! it was simply Saturday night, and th'
morrow was the blessed Sabbath in whicl
. We might find rest Not that we wer,
entirely destitute of patriotism. The bat
, terry Numbered out salute Of "a gun!
, at sunset few speeches were made
songs we're sung by soldier boys in man,
, a listening circle, and few R ,msn can
, dies threw their colored fires into tn,
dark night.
} We are camped upon the left bank o
the river which here runs nearly east
and 40 miles west of Fort Abercrom bic
Plenty oil timber along the stream, which
3 is slow and sluggish, and in places easl,
/ iorded by the teams of the brigade
| When | say plenty of timber, l mean 70
his country. have not seen a plac
5 since leaving Camp Pope, where MAJ
? would not require, at the best, mile O
3 river frontage. and both sides at that, I,
! fence quarter section. Before u
stretches the Illimitable prairie. the rive
halt mile or so 10 our rear, and still
/ beyond The slopiny bluffs, whose high
est points are crowned BY two circulal
! mounds, the work oil an ancient and lonl
forgotten race. Lieut. Jannson made al
exploration Of one day or two ago
and Is or 20 feet below the summit. wer,
ound human bones in tolerable state
oil preservation, but soft and unctious &c
he touch, So, hundreds, perhaps a
thousand years ago, nation lived, whose
people urod these plains. and wandered
in this valley. They have passed away.
'he;r very name aud lineage is forgotten.
out the same river still glides calmly by,
and lie praries yet gladden. 10 the touch
Of Spring, and whiien in the storms oil