The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1924-08-15
By Martha Edgerton Plassmann
1.-TWO points of unusual interes

the Platte river below Lar
annie, are Chimney Rock ant
lScott's Bluff; the former on &C
count of its peculiar appearance
and the latter because of the story
that is attached to it. Both, not
withstanding the great width o.
the Platte, are plainly observable
from the north side of the river
for long time before being
abreast of them.
An uncle of mine, who made the
overland journey to California in
1850, charged us to visit Chimney
Rock on our way across the Plains
in 1868, as he had inscribed his
name on this natural monument
and he was curious to learn if it
was still discernible. To carry out
his request would be no easy task
as it entailed fording the Platte,
and long walk afterwards.
When we were opposite the
Rock, it was asked. "Who of us
will visit it?"
1t was out of the question for
any one to care to cross the river
two days in succession, and my
father, then Judge Edgerton, said
said he did not care to visit Chin
ney Rock, but he was anxious to
say he had been to SCOTS Bluff.
It was finally settled that Colonel
Sanders, his wife, and my cousin,
Lucia Darling, should be the ones
to look for the inscription, and the
rest of us would reserve our ex-
cursion for the following day.
Provided for an all-day trip, the
Sanders party set out the next
morning, taking an ample lunch
con with them. They returned in
the evening, reporting they had
enjoyed the day, and met with no
other than beingI
threatened by rattlesnake, which
they killed. But they searched
in vain for the name of Benjamin
having been obliterated
by many seasons of snow, rain, and
wind, or lost under the countless
names more recently cut into the
Rock.
The next morning early, my
father, mother, brother, Amoret
Ieer, Henry Tilden, and | set out
for SCOTS Bluff. We were not
opposite it, and we realized that it
would require short walk to
each it, but all of us had grown
to walking. We had
With us our sturdy little Mexican
,ony, on which my little brother
was mounted, when we tookthe
initial step-or several of them
leeded to cross the Platte.
Of this river a writer has noted
The River Platte is broad, but !,
lirty, uninviting stream, differing
rom a slough in having swift $
urrent, often a mile wide, but
With no more water than would
i'll an ordinary canal; three inches
f fluid running on the top of sew
raj feet of moving quicksand |
30 deep for safe fording; too
elbow to wash in; and too pale
) paint with, it is the most use
,ss and disappointing river I'M
/
Such was the Platte when | first
aw it. Now it, together with its
serves to make produc-
We through irrigation about two i
1illion acres of land that were II
a part of "The Great
merican Desert" as it was desig- Il
ated, when I first studied geog-
lphy. II
1t was somewhat of an under II
king to ford this river, because Il
its swift current, and the quick u
lnds underlying it, but we made
lie crossing safely, and with
lough strength remaining to be
IN our walk in good spirits. Like
hicken Little" We gaed, and we |
aed, and we gaed," without per- II
.ptibly lessening the distance be- |
5een ourselves and our goal. II
At noon we stopped for lunch, II
-eatly encouraged by the thought H
the miles we had already left II
,hind us, and the few that were Il
lead. After the needed rest, we Il
,ain began our journey, it never Il
curing to us the wisdom of our II
ldertaking it. We were in the II
oux country, man, a boy, a wo- H
an, and three children separated
: many miles and a wide river
ON camp; the country was unln-
bited except by one fur trader
ar Fl. Laramie; we could be cap II
red or killed and no one the
oo~. x,,o ,.,o~o a., x,aaJ ,,asthar nf III