New Orleans Republican., 1873-08-24
THE WEEKLY REPUBLICAN

1eily. Monthly advertisesssnts inserted for one
Tpsrsi s1 sps eomSisssss allowed 10 those o send
O. AZ the Banks Of he Yeilsyvsssse.
ea tOerrespondence Of the New York Tribune
YELLowsroxs RIVER, Montana, July a.
The buffalo is . great engineer. For the
Western country he is the best guide that
ono can have. It was . buffalo that led Us
The last thirty miles Of our journey to the
Yellowstone. ! do not wish to detract from
old Clemms, whose knowledge and expe-
Eience a. . gnide axe invaluable. 1t is an
enough to io1ow the patti which the buffalo
had made. After getting out of the Bad
Landss Of tbes Little xissouri, we soon
struck the Yellowstone slope. Along the
valley Of the Yellowstone there 10 another
break Of Bad Lands almost, il not quite
- difficult, of passage - those fsnking
the little Missouri. Clemms and company
and on their return reported that the roads
were very bad. Previous to this We had
followed mainly the trail of General Whist
Ter, who commanded in the survey of 1871.
General Stanley determined now to find 9
new road. His reason for this was that
General Whistler's trail left the divide and
broke Of into the had Lands, through
which. on one days march, he was obliged
to make twenty-five crossings. The only
way to travel easily through the country is
to keep on the top of divide or ridge, and
never leave it unless necessity cOmpels.
1t is shorter and easier in the long run to
keep or the divide, even il it takes you
considerably away from q direct line. 1t
is this method the buffalo follows. A GER
tain typographical instinct Keeps him on
the lowest divides; somehow he succeeds in
G~L, = xIn,~n <hon o~vh11x, al ~
following the divide between Glendive and
Cedar Creek we were enabled to make
seventeen miles. We found the road much
better than we had expected. In the course
of our march we came upon two villages OF
prairie dogs. The whole surface OF the
plain v ls3covered with their little mounds.
A delegation of representative CANNES
perhaps the village aldermen, the mayor
respects to the expedition, and the whole
community kept up . most courteous bark
ing. -nss a=.te.- .- ~ vrf..
The only thing Of & Biological intere st We
met during the day was small sand hill
not over twenty feet in height, standing
isolated on the plain, surrounded by large
sandstone concretions of most peculiar
shape, which denuding rains had washed
from their burrows. Some were globulsr,
others flattened into disks. Some resembled
pcIiueu cnce5ces OtuoI1 WoI0 aimVee Cyuu
drical or tapering, like Belemnite, for
which the tyro geologist might mistake
them. We were disposed to believe that
the reports We had heard of fossil fernS
were derived from nothing but these largo
sandstone concretiOns which we subser
quently found elsewhere on the plains, fif-
teen or twenty feet in length ana four feet
and upward in diameter, sometimes broken
into several lengths with smooth fracture,
aa thnnN nh a infn 1nUa Wo
camped that night only one days march
from the Yellowstone. We set out
the next day July 15 computing the dis
tance to the river at twelve miles.
The great point Of anxiety was whether We
should find boat on the Yellowstone at
the mouth of the Glendive. Three steamers
had left Fort Rice before our departure,
bound for the Yellowstone 1T this point,
with provisions for the command. One Of
these steamers, the Key West, we hoped to
ferry us over. 1t was question whether
with her heavy load she would be able to
proceed 30 far up the river. General For
syth's success in going up to the mouth Of
Powder river in this same vessel was our
ground for trust. II the boat had not ar
rived We should be obliged to send to Fort
Buford. HOO miles, for supplies. To deter
cavalry was ordered to move on in advance
at five O'Clock in the morning and search
for the boat. The cavalry started across
the country. The tram, under guard of
the infantry, was obliged to be more par
ticular about its road.
At the start view of the section of coun-
try over which we-were to pass was rather
discouraging. The Bad Lands seemed to lie
before us in every direction. But we still
had confidence in Clemms, and Clemms,
though he said nothing about it, evidently
confded much in the buffalo guide that had
passed over this country two or three years
ago. We noticed that he kept Close to the
trail, and that the trail led due west.
Though from Fort Rice to the Yellowstone
we have not seen single buffalo, the marks
Of his range are everywhere visible. The
hills are covered with his wall0ws and
trails. Occasionally buffalo chips two or
has 30 completely driven the buffaloes from !
. country where they once ranged in such
vast numbersi A few years ago, along the |
Missouri clear up to Fort Buford and be- |
yond, the plains were frequently black with |
hem. What has driven them West 2 I |
have asked the opinion Of many expert |
,nced hunters and army officers on the |
,oint. but do not find any general
igreement as to the cause. Some re-
rave roamed and hunted this country for
many years, and still the buffalo was seen
q abundance. Others more reasonably re-
er it to the vast fires which have ravaged
he country, burning OF the grass and driv-
ng the buffalo further west for good pas
urage. Indirectly the Sioux nsy be re-
ponsible for this prairie arsUn. Excessive
routh, which, according to the Indians,
as been more severe in the Last ten years
han at any other time, Is another cause
Ihich, combined with the previous one, j
,ould cause the buffalo 10 seek Q moro con
enial range. The buffalo must havew&
n. When the Indian and. t1appeFy ~ |
ON their accustomed haunts, loHg foFHf y
r, they invariably follow . buffalo HAil
'sured that if wSter is to be had they.Wil
I'd it. Perhaps, once sgain, should sew
Iccessive summers be ~ moist - this, Dar
,ta may once more BECOME the 6u6alO's
.ne. Now il Is only g yaetl bqaslc,cens
rod fS-r a !, Noor crosa $hn p1ain find NO {