New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-08-19
YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION.
0AT TIE BANKS OF THE YELLOWSTONE.

! NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. VOYAGE OF THE KEY
wFsr-IN CAMP ON THE WEST sHoRE OF THE
RIVER.
,vnoS rnn SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE.
YELLOWSTONE RIVER. Montana July "a Inc
buffalo is great engineer For the Western country
he is the best guide that Que can have. 1t was
buffalo that led us the last so miles of our journey TO
the Yellowstone do not wish to detract from Ola
Clemms. whose knowledge and experience as
guide are invaluable IL is another PROOF OF DIS NJ
ness that he had wit enough TO follow the pam
which the buffalo had made After getting ont OF
the Rad Lands of the Little Missouri we soon struck
the Yellowstone slope. Along the valley OF the le
lowstone there is another break OF Bad Lands aoS'
If not quite as difficult of passage as those hank'nR
the Little Missouri Clemms and company oi cav
airy were sent to make reconnaissance ana on .neii
return reported that the roads were very pau nio-
yious TO this we had followed mainly the tran Oh
Cen whistler. who commanded in the survey OF
1871. Gen. Stanley determined now to ma
new road. His reason for this was that ueh'
Wbistler,s trail left the divide and broAe
off into the Bad Lands through which. on one gay
IN arch he WAS Obliged to make % crossings Inc
only way 10 travel easily through the country Is 10
keep on the top of a divide OF ridge, and never ieaNe
il unless necessity compes. 1t IS shorter anu easier
in the long run to keep on the nvlde, even ~
takes you considerably away from direct line. III
ia this method the buffalo follows. certain topo-
graphical instinct keeps him on the lowest DIVIDES
somehow he succeeds in finding them easier than
ANYBODY else. BY following the divide between
Glendive and Cedar Creek we were enaDied 10
mako n 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 was covered with their
little mounds. A delegation of representative ca
41,o xv;1l
and few patriarchs-came out pay their respects
20 the expedition and the whole community keptup
a most courteous barking
WITHIN ONE DAYS MARCH OFyTHE RIVER.
The only thing of geological interest we met dur
ing the day was q small sand hill not over ~
feet in hight standing isolated on the PLAIN sur
rounded by large sandstone corrections OF most Pc
cnliar shape, which denuding rains had washed
from their burrows. Some were globular, others
fiatteued into disks. Some resembed petrihed
cheeses others were almost cylindrical or taperlng,
ike Belemnite for which the tyro geologst might
mistake them. We were disposed to believe tnat
the reports we had heard of fossil ferns were de-
rived from nothing but these large sandstone con-
cretiOns which we subsequently found elsewhere on
the plaps Ii OF 20 feet in length and four feet and
upward in diameter; sometimes broken into seVerai
lengths with smooth fracture, as though sawn into
march from the Yellowstone. We set out
the next day, July IS. computing the distance
TO the river at 10 miles. The great point
of anxiety was whether we should find boat ON
| the Yellowstone at the mouth of the Glendlve.
Three steamers had left Fort Rice before our depar
ture bound for the Yellowstone at tins point WIN
provisions for the command. One OF THESE steain-
ers the Key West we hoped to find to ferry us over
II was a question whether with her heavy load she
wonld be able to proceed so far up the river. Gen.
Forsyths success in going up to the mouth OF Pow
der River in this same vessel was our ground for
trust If the boat had not arrived we should De
obliged to send to Fort Buford 100 miles for sup
plies To determine the matter soon as possible,
the 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 train,
under guard of the infantry, obliged to be more
particular about its road.
CAUSES OF The DISAPPEARANCE soP THE BUFFALO.
At the start view of the section of country over
which we were to pass was rather discOuragng. 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 wallows and trails. Occasionally buffalo
chips two OF three years old are found along them.
What has so completely driven the buffaloes from
country where they once ranged in such vast num-
bersf few years ago, along the Missouri clear up
to Fort Buford and beyond, the plains were fire.
ouently black with them. What has driven them
West 2 have asked the opinion of many expert
enced hunters and army officers on the point, but do
not find any general agreement as to the cause
Some refer it to the Sioux. But the Sioux
have roamed and hunted this country for
many years. and still the buffalo was seen III abund
ance. Others more reasonably refer it to the vast
fires which have ravaged the country, burning off
the grass and driving the buffalo further west for
good pasturage. Indirectly the Sioux may be
responsible for this prairie arson. Excessive drouth
which according to the Indians, has been more
severe in the last ten years than at any other tme
is another cause which, combined with the previous
one. would cause the buffalo to seek more con-
genial range. The buffalo must have water When
the Indian and trapper, far from their accustomed
haunts long for water they invariably follow
buffalo trail sassuredhat if water is to be had they
will find it, Perhaps once again, should few sue
cessive Summers be as moist as this, Dakota may
once more become the buffalo's home. Now it IS
only vast buffalo cemetery. His whltened skulls
and bones scattered far and near across the plain.
find no grave, but in few years from now will
not lack an epitaph. The buffalo is dying out
THE FIRST VIEW OF THE YELLOWSTONE.
Our march through the morning was made with
out difficulty until we came to a small stream which
gave us a little trouble, Beyond this short dis
lance we reached the foot Of very high and steep
ridge Old Clemms insisted that if we did not take
it we should not reach the Yellowstone that night
Int tl,a xallev tn the r. chit looked more inviting
An inexperienced man would have refused the hill