86 NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



imminent danger of collision with the same band of Indians that after- 

 wards massacred Captain Gunnison. 



J. Soide Bowman. 



Mr. Bowman left Kansas the 20th of May, 1853, on his journey to 

 California, and travelling up the Kansas river crossed it at the Baptist 

 mission, and proceeded to Salt Lake city, via Fort Kearney and Fort 

 Laramie. Leaving Salt Lake city on the 29th of July, he proceeded 

 to Humboldt river, passing down its north side to the sink. From the 

 sink he took the Truckee river route, and thence, by Beckwith's cut 

 off 10 Bid well's bar and Marysville. Shortly after his arrival in San 

 Francisco he w^as attacked with the typhoid fever, which carried him 

 off" in a few days. Mr. Bowman's untimely end is greatly to be la- 

 mented, not only as a citizen, relative, and friend, but as a man of 

 science. For many years he has embraced every opportunity for 

 making collections in natural history, even under the most unfavorable 

 circumstances. 



In a previous report I have referred to a collection made for the In- 

 stitution by Mr. Bowman. Those gathered by him during the trip just 

 referred to were of much greater extent, embracing quite a full series 

 of frshes and reptiles from a previously unexplored region — many new 

 to science and all in excellent condition. These were received in 

 April, 1854, through the kind assistance of his brother, S. M. Bowman, 

 of San Francisco, and of Lieutenant Whipple. 



Exploratio?i of the Brazos, hy Caiitain R. B. Marcy. 



Captain Marcy, having completed and published his report of an ex- 

 ploration of Red river in 1852, was detailed in 1854 to select and sur- 

 vey certain lands in Texas, donated b}^ that State for the benefit of the 

 Indian tribes included within her limits. He accordingly left New 

 York for this purpose in May, and proceeded to Fort Belknap, near 

 which the reservation is situated. Accompanied and assisted b}^ Major 

 Neighbors, Indian agent, he performed the duty assigned him, and from 

 interviews with the chiefs of the southern Comanches, found that these 

 Indians were not averse to the idea of settling down permanently and 

 cultivating the soil. 



In the course of the summer Captain Marcy visited the head waters 

 of the Brazos and the Big Witchita, a region previously untrodden by 

 the white man. During his entire trip he was accompanied by Dr. G. 

 G. Shumard, as surgeon and naturalist, who made extensive and valu- 

 able collections and observations, which will be embodied in the report 

 of Captain Marcy. 



Lienlcnant D. N. Conch. 



In the winter of 1852-'53, Lieutenant Couch, of the United States 

 artillery, under leave of absence from the War Department, left Wash- 

 ington for the purpose of making explorations in the natural history and 

 geography oi Mexico. After a short stay at Brownsville, accompanied 



