Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1873-09-12

Lieutenant Colonel Fred Grants Report.
What he Saw while accompanying s.an-
Iey's Expedition.
Lieutenant Colonel F. D. Grant has sub.
mittcd the following report:
CHICAGO. ILL.,, August II. 1873.
Lieutenant Colonel James B. Fry, Assistant
Adutant General Military Department OF
the Missouri.
COLONEL: have the honor to submit the
following report of my observations upon
the Yellowstone Expedition In compliance
with the provisions Of special order No. 4S,
dated May %, 1873. reported to Colonel w.
S. Stanley. Twenty-second infantry, at Fort
Rice, d. r.. June IL. 1873. and on the Goth of
the same month the expedition left Rice for
its objective point. On the morning OF the
10th Of June the line of march was indicated
by a special order from Colonel u. S. Stanley.
the general direction being cue west to the
Yellowstone river. At the Heart river we
detected north about thirty miles. to meet
the engineers of the Northern Pacific Rail-
way. who started from Fort Lincoln, D. T.
Starting from Fort Rice the country was high
a 4 rolling, with long, fine grass. of which
there were four kinds, gamma, bunch. spear
and lid wheat, the first and last kinds being
what the animals seemed to like most. aud in
my opinion, all the country between the
Heart river and the Missouri would m, Ike
good grazing lard as there are several st, cams
and springs which would supply plenty OF
water for stock. The soil would hardly do
for cultivation, although through the valley
of tile Heart river the soil is thick a, very
rich The river has valley about mile
and halt in width. About twenty-seven
bed of Ignite, over four feet in thickness,
and of very good quality. The stream has
very little timber on it. but there is Il small
quantity of timber throughout the prairie. al
though not enough for building purposes.
nor even for fuel for great number of peo-
pie. The valley of the Big Muddy is also
fine one, with great deal OF good farming
land and more wood than on Heart river.
From the Muddy al! the way on to the Little
Missouri the land is rolling, with quite
number Of streams running through it. All
of it had good grass, and on the stream there
was always wood.
On Wednesday. July 8, the command ar
rived at The head of Davis creek, running
through the Mauvias Terres and into the
L,ttle Missouri On all the streams running
into ,his river there Is plenty of wood, con-
sissing of ash. cedar and cottonwood. The
Little Missouri itself has more fine wood on
1t than the large Misso ri. and the Indian
means 'sThe river with plen.y of good wood"
There is great deal Of ignite on The stream.
tut did not see any that was more than two
or three feet in thickness. and some veins
were not more than two or three inches; tut
have understood from some of the officers
that they have seen IT us thick as four and a
half or five feet. From the Little Miss souri, to
the Yellowstone the country was high and
dry and the soil rather poor, and do not
think any of it could be cultivated. except on
one stream, Inman's Fork, which has very
good bottom.
: On July 18th the command reached the
Yellowstone. The va ley OF the Yellowstone
is broad and fertile, with splendid wood of
the following varieties: ash, cedar, and cot
tonwond. The water of the river is quite
clear, and it is one of the finest rivers in the
northwestern part of the United States. We
found at the point where we arrived Oh The
river the steamboat Key West, one Of the
lare es: of the Missouri boats, and they had
experienced no difficulty in coming up or go
ing down the river. In looking over the
ground tor good location Tor military
post, the best place, in my opinion. would be
where Colonel ID. s. Stanley established a
stockade, as it has all the advantages that
any Other place has saw, besides having a
good many that other places leaked at did
not possess. From this place took yawl
and came down the river to Fort Buford in a
little less than twelve hours. distance of 1926
miles. The distance from Fort Lincoln to
the mouth of Powder river. by the railway
line is 254 miles. The difference in water
level is 700 feet, a"d the current of the Yel-
lowstone, at medium stage of water, will
average six miles per hour.
am, Colonel, very respectfully. your
obedient servant, f. d. GRANT,
Lieut. Col. and A. D. C.
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