The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1891-09-05

crossed one mountain that had
scarcely a bush or any thing to
break the curving outline till half
way to the top where there springs
up out Of its grassy bosom mighty
cliff of splintered quartz which tow
ers up in frowning majesty for hun
dreds of feet. Thousands of tons of
it have scaled off and gone crashing to
the bottom.
We came to another mountain
which was nothing but one monster
mass of some kind of granite 1t was
splintered up into pieces varying in
size from ten pounds to many tons.
/ dismounted and walked over it
while my horse was led around the
base
We were now near the termination
of the timber, and nothing could ex-
coed the fury of the wind. We could
scarcely keep our feet on the ground
or seats in the saddles.
The few trees lay almost bending
and the bark and limbs ON their
west sides was whipped and beaten
off by the furious blasts of Old
Boreas. The last mile or two of the
trip made on foot. The mountain
was covered with broken slate which
made treacherous footing for a
horse. Here at height of nearly
5000 feet / found stratified rocks
showing ripple marks. AS we APP
preached the summit all vegeta-
tion ceased except species of club
moss and q brown lichen neither
one of which was a half-inch in
height. The rocks which now
changed to tlinty character were
covered with round black lichen
spots which looked like rosettes of
velvet. Nothing can exceed the
utter desolation of the awful soil
tude and savage grandeur of those
wind swept SUBMITS Not a sound
was heard; not a thing of life was
met except one butterfly and tiny
squirrel the size of a mouse. My
heart was bowed down and over
awed within me as | reached the
summit and gazed on the mighty
scene. felt as though | was look
ing upon the skeleton of dead
world from whose frame the cover
ing had been torn. Beyond and below
the crest on which | stood extended
miles of riven, crumbling rock. For
centuries these formations have been
splintering of, and falling down,
down a quarter of a mile on either
side to the bottom until the divide
on which / stood was not a foot
wide. Ones head reels, and their
heart faints within them TO look
down or attempt to cross over. Ben
Butler howled long and dismally
when he contemplated crossing At
the bottom lay two lovely pellucid
lakes, and far below, miles away,
stretched the fertile Smith River
Valley, once the bed of an ancient
lake where Princeton professor
and his class are spending their va
cation excavating for fossils. They
have already found specimens of
the three toed horse, (Americ-
Hippus, the camel, dog rhinoceros
and plastomernyx, the first perfect
specimen of the latter ever found
In this valley lies old Fort Logan
and the health resort of White Sui
phur Springs. Fifteen miles away
and thousands of feet below us
stretched the Missouri Valley with
the river like a silver thread
winding through its miles of verdure.
In the distance could be seen:
Spokane Mountains, The Crazies,
the Squaw, the Bear Paw, the Bald,
the Va. Mountains and many
more too numerous to mention, but
few, if any, rose higher than the one
on which ! stood 1t is said | am
the second white woman who ever
reached the top.
/ found no difficulty in breathing
at this great height nor was my cir
culation affected in the least.
The coming down was awful.
Again and again became complete
~ panic stricken and sliding from
my saddle left my horse to be led
There were places where false
step would have tumbled horse and
rider mangled mass far below.
We should have had many a fall
had not our horses been almost as
sure footed as goats. This is a
Characteristic of Montana horses.
About P. NJ, we came out in
gulch a mile or so below the cabin
where we had slept was com
pletely "done up" and could not
possibly have ridden another mile
horse back. | spread my riding
skirt out on the pine needles by the
road side and lay down until the
wagon was brought from the camp,
In another hour was back to the
Hoover ranch "tired to death and
praying to die" | was so lame, so
stiff, so altogether used up.
NJ. A. Y.