Evening star., 1896-02-29

OF a holiday would imagine it could be
found in the month of January, and in the
Uintah mountains. Yet it was And when
Col Rardlett. commanding Fort Du-
Chesne. said there could be no possible OBJ
lection to Capt. Days guest being of the
party. the work of preparation proceeded
all the mere rapidly. In spite of the fact
that frontier garrisons are always ready
to move there were many little things 10
look after; some of them sure to be for
hidden in active field service of more
serious sort. But everything was ready at
reasor ably early hour the next morn
ing, and as soon as the word was given
the six-line wagon, laden with forage, and
, the four-line escort wagon, full of provis-
ions and bedding, pulled out of DuChesne
and headed for the Uintah Indian agency,
en- route for White Rocks Canon. The
morning was well advanced. though, when
Capt Day, Lieut.. Cavenaugh and myself
swung into our respective saddles and
trotted after the wagons 1t is question
able whether there could be found in all
Utah more attractive scenery than that
which is spread before the gaze of those
who traverse the valley of the Uintah. A
broad and fertile valley is bounded or
appears TO DE, by circle of mountain
peaks, so grandly impressive as to leave
nothing to he desired even by the most
critical observer of nature. From the
places. had anticipated the work of spring
by bursting through it's icy cover, the
ascent was gradual to the foothills on both
sides: from the foot hills the geological in
cHnatiOn was almost perpendicular
Everywhere there was snow; several inch
es in the lower parts of the valley, where
sagebrush was conspcuously in evidence
foot or so in the higher places, and from
two to six feet deep in some of the draws
and on top of the everlasting hills toward
which the little expedition was moving
AT the agency the guide was taken aboard,
as IL Were; Johnny Reed, more white than
Indian; mounted on WHY little horse that
feared neither snow, ice, mud water,
and that never once SHED at the forage
wagon From the agency to the camping
place. just inside the mouth of White
Rocks Canon it was truly uphill work, and
when the advance guard arrived at the
spring everybody was tired and cold.
Chilly Evening.
Precisely how many degrees below zero
the thermometer indicated Is unknown for
/ there wasn't any Thermometer there but
good guesSers were of the opinion that fif-
teen below was O conservative estimate;
the teamsters, the cook and the other en-
listed men who were with the wagons talk
ed vaguely about twenty or twenty-five
below as they thawed their feet out at the
roaring fire kindled by the advance guard
which was composed mainly of the officers.
But the diScomfortS were soon forgotten
supplanted by the work that had to he
done. Horses and mules were fed snow
shoveled from around the fire and from the
site OF the conical wall tent, which was to
afford shelter to the detachment; two tents
were on the program. but the hard, frozen
earth damaged so many of the iron tent
pins that only one of the canvases could
De put up. Simultaneous with the COM
pleted pitching Of the tent and the fitting
and filling of its stove came supper. In the
course of several enlistmentS Private Isaiah
johnson has cooked many meas-many
he rod hot
was relished half so much as was the be-
lated supper that first night in camp at
White Rocks. And then how comfortable
everything was in the tent when CORPORAL
Barnes. who Is a loyal Washingtonian
throughout, and Private Jackson Lewis
who Is good enough to be Washingtonian
had uhrolled the bedding and had so ar
ranged three candles that the drippings