Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1875-07-23

g. 1885,

FRIDAY
,e THE YELLOWsTONE AM
BRANCHES.
mi TONGUE RIVER.
III From Lieutenant General Forsythe'
is Official report Of his expedition we extrac
the following:
~ I'm regard to the rivers rising south o
tho YeIlowstsne, and empty,ng into it,
. shall first mention Tongue River. Th,
|l| water OF sh.s river is of reddish tinge
III II b $50 ftss'wide q he lncuth, and hold,
ri 70 this width for some two miles or NOR,
from the main river. 1t is quite crooked
b with depth of water at the mouth Of
seven feet. The main valley of the Yel
lowstone is about two miles wide where II
el's joined by the above stream, and is q
prairie bottom with some good grazing
b Both streams are we'll timber with cot
tonwood, and where the Tongue River
!, breaks through the hills its valley ls about
1.-TWO miles wide. The hills on the east
g BANK are $50 feet high. and the country
e beyond very broken. Those on the north,
l near the main valley, are clear cut, conical
IN shape, covered with sage brush and
bunch grsss, and are not over $50 feet
E high, but increase as yon 60 up the valley
J ROSEBUD RIVER.
found the place where this river was
4 -|reported as emptying into the Yellowstone,
Ibut the bed of the stream which exam
ined was dry one, with no sign of water.
1.-THE valley where it joins the Yellowstone
ID not more than mile long, all told. and
no sign OF any camp or occupation by In
diars; very little timber and no valley toI
1t, except the short one from the bills ofI
the Yellowstone to the main river. In|
fact, the result of my examination, both
going up and down the Yellowstone, leads
me to think that the Rosebud River doesI
not empty into the Yellowstone direct,
but it's waters are conveyed to it through
the Tongue River and not into the Yel-I
l0wstOne.
EMMET CREEK
Is twenty four and q half miles above
Tongue River, about twenty five or thirty
feet wide, and winds its way throuxh q
small prairie from the hills to the parent
stream; has some ash and cottonwood
growing on its bank. Near its mouth we .
found four piles of stone which mark the
spot where Meldurm's trading post stood
once Signs of old Indian camps near|f
this stream. |r
~ rurgk1 gk1pkfAAlh4 pfAlht4Iy yG58gEsEK 5gEsEEKK
the Big Horn River, and at distance be-Io
low the Tongue River estimated al 1851.
miles. 1t has fringe of cottonwood on
ita banks and Is about fifteen or twenty
feet underwater alkaline, and of q areddish
t,nge. Sign of Indian camps near its
mouth at the main valley.
THE BIG HORN RIVER. |.
We steamed up the river for distance
of twelve miles. found it quite crooked.
with a narrow valley, and were obliged to
return on account of the water becoming
oyer so wide space that the
nam channel did not afford sufficient
depih of water for Us to continue our
course. The current of the Big Horn
was abou. as strong as that of the Yellow
|stone; the water muddy, and ut the mouth
lit was about $50 yards wide. When II
ioins the Yellowstone, the points OF land
lon each side are small prairies with good
grass. On the east bank the bluffs run
close 10 the river and are sparsely timber
led. On the west bank the valley is filled
with cottonwood, and the hills are about
loo feet high, with plateaus on the top
Near the point where We turned back,
there was q small stretch of prairie about
a mile wide and mile and half long.
The north bank of the Yellowstone op-
|posite the mouth of the river is sand
stone bluff, $50 high with rolling plateau
Ion ton covered with sage and bunch grass
"Where Pryor's River emptlcs into the
Yellowstone, sixty.two miles above Big
Horn. is small stream, twenty-five feet
wide, winding through the western part
|of the prairie, which extends from Pom
pey's Pillar to it, Very little timber on it.
lii is reported TO have very fine country
near its head quarter.
..We entered the mouth of the Yellow
stone at 8 80, p. M. Wednesday. May ~,
and returned to Fort Buford on Thursday.
June TO- Our running time from Fort
Buford to the mouth OF the Big Horn, ul-
der steam alone, eighty.eight houn and
forty minutes. From the time that wei
arrived at the mouth of the Powder river,
lSunday, May 80, up to the 7th day of June
tho river fell from one half an inch to one
and half inches each night. and thel
water IN the channel was over two feet be |
low the ordinary high water mark. TheI
Yellowstone River from the highest point
reached by 10 to the mouth of Powder
River, sweeps through the country In longl
majestic stretches, with . current OF OIL
|least four miles m hour. lts bosom isI
studded with islands BY the hundreds,
|some of which a.e three miles or more inl
'|iensth. and covered with cottonwood
|eroyc.: and many Of them are 20 handsome|
that they almost make the voyager think
l,hey sre the we'll kept grounds pertaining
Ito some English country house. ! never
l.w 90 tiue growth of cottonwood In my
life q ON the Yellowstone. twenty-five
|milea above Tongue river. These frees
lin ran from three to i've feet, and some
are sjx feet in diameter. Tho supply Of
-Icottonwood aud pine which exists through
J ont the upper Yellowstone country is an.
u ole 70 meet all The requirements OF any
Il l.eetlement Of the valley; and the indica
sl,ious arc that large beds Of coal ca be