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Last night we had a good deal of talk around our fire about the Black 

 Hills. Joe, an experienced hunter tells me that they are covered with the 

 finest pine timber, so thick that a person on horseback cannot pass through 

 it in some places. There is an abundance of fine water but no fish ; plenty 

 of all kinds of game. Grizly bears are found there sometimes in bands, like 

 buffalo ; they live on fruit, tlesh and ants ; to get these they turn over the 

 largest logs and eat them off the under side. He never knew a man to kill 

 one with young, and less is known to the hunter about the time of their 

 breeding, than about that of any other animal in this section. They are 

 not found north of the Missouri. 



[ JVote. — Grizzly bears are often found in the Bad Lands ; we saw the 

 fresh tracks of one at Sage creek, but saw nothing more of him. ] 



Thursday, May 9. — We are encamped this evening on Cotton Wood 

 creek, and a pleasant evening it is ; sitting by a fire with my ears delighted 

 with the evening song of the birds, and my eyes gratified with the lovely 

 shades of the sky as the evening draws on. 



We have travelled about twenty-six miles to-day, which w^as doing 

 wonders for our old mules ; from the fine roads I should judge that wdth a 

 good team and a light load, we could easily go from the Fort to the Mau- 

 vaises Terres in three days ; it will take us however, five and a half. This 

 morning w^e left the first fork of the Sheepoi creek, dined on the Ree creek, 

 about fifteen miles from the former, and came on here for the night, eleven 

 miles. These streams are all small ; water and timber scarcer than here- 

 tofore ; rolling prairie but more level land than yesterday. I have noticed 

 that the streams along this road are different from those across the Missouri, 

 in that their banks are neither so steep nor so soft. The hills are not so 

 stony, though the land is apparently poor. 



Friday, May 10. — Our camp this evening is at the head of the Little 

 Missouri or Bad river. There is another river higher up call the Little 

 Missouri, but how this one got the same name I cannot ascertain. We 

 have come to-day about twenty-six miles ; the route until noon was over a 

 section of country very similar to what we passed before ; the small streams 

 had better timber on them than any we have seen since we left. About 

 nine o'clock we came to what is called Grindstone hills ; they are three 

 elevations ranging north and south, covered with a sandstone ; there are 

 more stones on them than on any hill I have seen this side of the Missouri, 

 iind these evidently belong to strata beneath the surface ; the soil on these 

 little hills is different from what it is below and the eastern side is much 

 steeper than the western ; this is true of nearly all the large hills I passed 

 this afternoon. I could not examine the top of the Grindstone hills, as I 

 had no horse. 



About five or six miles from them we reached a basin-shaped valley 

 which at once suggested the idea of a lake with an outlet and an inlet ; 

 there is a ridge about the middle that divides it into two portions. The 

 face of the country has been more varied than heretofore, and timber much 

 more abundant ; we crossed the beds of several streams which were dry ; 

 nearly all the streams within a few miles of this, unite to form Bad river, 

 the point of union is called its head. To-morrow morning we shall mount a 

 high bluff and have a prairie for a long way. Game as scarce as ever — 

 Joe killed a prairie dog, a little grey wolf and missed two antelopes. — 

 M'Kenzie is cleaning the wolf's head. We were all very much amused at 

 the old mules about four miles from here ; we had just reached a good 



