LITMIR.BIZ

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else to do after our disappoint- ment but to become readjusted to our usual fare and experimental inevitable camp-fire cooking, if not reconciled, in a more subdued state of mind, and retire for the night, not on a downy couch but with grass pillows and army blankets to seek the repose of the ambulance bed with another day behind us.

      The next day's march brought us to Pumpkin Creek, which flows past Court House Rock, not rock indeed, but sand, hard pan and clay, rising six hun- dred feet above the water of the creek. After par- taking of supper, and the tin cups and pans had been washed in the clear waters of the creek, and camp-fires were burning low, I proposed to take a saunter to the great rock. The idea was at once ridiculed as it was actually five miles distant, so deceptive was the clear atmosphere of the plains. "Chimney Rock," with its singular proportions, loomed up miles further to the northwest. Both of these sand mountains were noted landmarks to trav- ellers. Though undergoing change through frequent blizzard and waste, they retained the natural pro- portions which gave to each its characteristic name. The gathering of debris about their base will in time efface the bold outline and fair symmetry of their present proportions.

      The pass through Scott's Bluff was reached by a deep gorge in which wagons could pass each other only at a few places, and which was so tortuous that the first wagon of a train making a turn, if you

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      were near the centre, would appear to be retracing the journey instead of leading you in its pursuit.

      The legend of this strange formation is of inter- est. Captain B. L. Bonneville relates that "a num- ber of years ago a party were descending the upper part of the river in canoes when their frail barks were overturned and all their powder spoiled. Their rifles being thus rendered useless they were unable to procure food by hunting and had to depend upon roots and wild fruits for subsistence. After suffer- ing extremely from hunger they arrived at Lara- mie's Fork, a small tributary of the north branch of the Nebraska River, about sixty miles from the cliffs just mentioned. Here one of the party by the name of Scott was taken ill, and his companions came to a halt until he might recover sufficient breath and strength to proceed. While they were searching after edible roots they discovered the trail of white men who had evidently preceded them. What was to be done? By a forced march they might be able to overtake this party and thus reach the settlements in safety. Should they linger, all might die from famine and exhaustion. Scott, how- ever, was incapable of moving, and his companions were too feeble to aid him forward. They dreaded that if they attempted to do so he would be such a clog upon their way that they never would come up with the advance party and determined to abandon him to his fate. Accordingly, under pretense of seeking food and such simple things as might be efficacious in his malady they deserted him and hastened forward upon the trail.

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      "They succeeded in overtaking the party of which they were in quest, but concealed their faith- less desertion of Scott, alleging that he died of disease.

      "During the ensuing summer the same party, visiting that region with others, came suddenly upon the bleached bones and grinning skull of a human skeleton, which by certain signs indicated that they were the remains of Scott. This was sixty miles from the place where he was abandoned, so that the wretched man had crawled that immense distance before death put an end to his miseries. The wild and picturesque bluffs in the neighbor- hood of his lonely grave have ever since borne his name. ' '

      At the very foot of the bluffs, as we passed through, we reached the peculiar and compact little Fort Mitchell, unlike any fort I have ever seen. The external log walls of the quarters, which were in the form of a rectangle, were loopholed and formed the line of defence, with a small parade ground in the center, and here were the quarters of officers, soldiers, horses, and warehouse supplies. Here we were accorded hospitable entertainment by the com- mandant of the little garrison, Brevet-Major Robert Hughes, who had long served upon the staff of General Terry, as he did also at a later date, but was a captain in our own regiment, the Eighteenth, at the time of our visit. Here at last we realized that sense of security never experienced while sleep- ing in an ambulance on the broad open prairie. But those intercalary words, "Forward March, " still

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      sounded in our ears like a bugle-call and we must onward to Fort Laramie.

      "Thus far," in this partial itinerary, army fashion, and in chronological order, must be inter- preted by the reader, if placed under similar condi- tions to those so feebly outlined. There are always vivid soul experiences during such ordeals that only eternity can explain and recompense. Imagination may catch glimpses of strain and endurance that words cannot express, and the very effort would afford no satisfaction to myself or benefit the reader. " Thus far " the country, to my observation, had seemed like a "no man's land." The former centres of Indian life along the route had been de- serted for the hunt or chase, or more likely for change of their uncertain domiciles to regions farther north, as the call of the Government for all the northwest tribes to assemble at Laramie in the June preceding had directed them in that quarter.

      The purpose of the Government was to open a new wagon road through the Powder Eiver Country, around the Big Horn Mountains, greatly shortening the travel to Montana ; but all hinged upon the pos- sibility of peace negotiations at the Laramie Coun- cil proving satisfactory to the Indians themselves, the very Indians whose security in the possession of the coveted new roadway route had been guar- anteed to them by the Harney-Sanborn Treaty of 1865, at the end of the Minnesota war. Hence, to the Indian it meant the surrender of a fair portion of his favorite hunting-grounds, almost the last upon which his living depended, for in the region of

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      the proposed road the country abounded with game. Mountain sheep, elk, deer, and buffalo ranged through it in vast numbers, and it is small wonder that they were reluctant to part with it. They were quick to perceive that such a proposition involved the practical and permanent advent of the white man, the presence of soldiers and the building of military posts in the very heart of their best hunt- ing-grounds. Quite a number who did not occupy that particular portion of the country under consid- eration were anxious to make a treaty and remain at peace. Some of this class had long resided near Fort Laramie and were still there when we reached the Fort in September, 1866. Many of these re- tained their residence there for a long time, keeping their own treaty obligations, until at a later period all the Indians of that country were gathered in large reservations, one under the general control of Red Cloud and the other under the similar leader- ship of Spotted Tail.

      At the time of my arrival it had become apparent to any sensible observer that the Indians of that country would fight to the death for home and native land, with spirit akin to that of the American soldier of our early history, and who could say that their spirit was not commendable and to be respected?

      While negotiations were under consideration at Laramie in June to induce Red Cloud, a leader of the young warriors of the Northern Sioux, and the principal chiefs themselves to yield the privilege of peaceably establishing the new road with military posts along the route, Colonel H. B. Carrington, of

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      the Eighteenth U. S. Infantry, with the Second Bat- talion of his regiment, about seven hundred strong, arrived at Fort Laramie under peremptory orders of Major General Pope, commanding the Depart- ment of Missouri, to immediately occupy and build forts along the route, which was still under consideration by the special Indian Commis- sion and the Indians who had met with them for conference.

      The destination and orders of Colonel Carring- ton were communicated to the assembled chiefs, and they at once recognized the fact that the occupation of the country then in debate was to be forcibly effected in advance of any agreement as to the terms. They immediately gave unequivocal demon- strations of their disapproval. The leading chiefs withdrew from the council with their adherents, refused to accept any

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