The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1876-08-18
THE nIa HORN MouNTAIhs.
IAN Eiysium for Natures Irrational Chill
dren"-A Vast Spectral Forest.

-An Eiysium for Natures Irrational Chill
dren"-A Vast Spectral Forest.
Gen. Crooks hurried exploration Of
the Big Horn range is further described
by a correspondent as follows:
'srHE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS.
The outer ridge of the chain is ribbed
BY carboniferous limestone, Potsdam
sandstone and metamorphic conglomer-
ate, and scattered fragments of coarse
porphyry appears upon the surface. The
ascent from the east is exceedingly abb
rupt and toilsome, hut while We were
recovering our breath we drank In the
magnifcence of a prospect which ex-
tended as far as the Little Powder River.
Beyond the summit the mountains had
been fattened into a broad, depressed
mesa, densely covered with tail and
straight but slender timber. The east
ern edge Of the forest is broken by
many and large glades, spangied with
white, pink, purple, blue and golden
blossoms, and deep dells, ~resounding
with the roar Of rocky brooks, which
splash with cool spray the roses that
crowd their brink. The turf is rich and
strong. Its graceful tassels, like long
nipples in a quiet pool, waved glinting
in the SUM-.
1t seemed an elysium for natures
irrational children, and here, for the
first time west of the Missouri, 1 heard
the clear, melancholy piping Of the her
NIT thrush, that rare and delicious war.
bier, which might be called the Philo-
mel of the New World. In some OF
the ravines we observed pyramidal
stacks of lodge poles which the Sioux
had cut in some previous summer,
leaving them to become seasoned fol
use by exposure. Further than the
small water beds just beyond the first
ridge, however, no indications of theil
former presence were seen, and it Il
certain, from knowledge obtained by
h~alf-breeds, that they have never pene
trated further than was necessary Il
replace the frames of their tepees eacl
year. Many of the decayed and worn
out poles lay on the ground where thu
camps of expeditions had been recent.
pitched, near the base of the mountain
and where Sitting Bull has probabl.
often located his summer village Will,
the squaws busted themselves in telling
barking and trimming the pine saplings
Crossing several ridges darkly timbere'
and small torrents rushing into tn
Goose Creek, which rolled through
deep and savage canon on our left,
THE SNOWY RANGE
suddenly burst upon our sight. 1t seem
ed very near The ragged edges Of tn
precipices, draped in clinging snow
stood out in sharp relief against tn
black shadows which they cast in thei
front. They looked to be more inacces
sible than ever, and the depths Of tn
Gallons, which they enclose, crowde
piney masses in their ebon darkness
like the gaunt portals Of hell. We mex
plunged into a forest which covers tn
depressed table land. Boulders Of gran
lite and gneiss strew the trail, and FIRE
quently in hollows circled by them ar
small lagoons Of pure water, blue ant
shadowy even as the vast deep, unde.
the gloomy panoply Of pines, but whicl
delighted our eyes with their dusk.
sheen. Soon we entered a district, how
ever, where there was no verdure-a vas
spectral forest. Fire had swept j
away "a ruthless mimic of physical death
and left behind only cohorts of blacken
ed and decorticated trunks. Many wer
still erect, others were bowed, ant
thousands encountered the ground witt
their mournful forms. But for tn
hoarse whispering of the breeze, Their
was an unpleasant absence of sound.
especially. of the pert of th
birds. Only the ground sparrow wa
seen and the hollow drumming of tn
woodpecker heard.
All earthly things shall sink In gloom,
The sun himself must die,
Before this mortal may assume
Its immortality.
This scenery left the same impress
upon the mind as that made by tn
first reading of The Last Man,"