342 FROM FORT HALL TO HEAD OF HELL GATE RIVER. 
who escaped unscathed, and returned to their homes to prepare for defence. The weather during 
to-day has been very mild and pleasant, though the night was cold. This, however, is the great 
characteristic of the weather in this region, warm or mild during the day, and exceedingly cold 
at night. 
December 31, 1853.—Commences clear and mild. Every one turned out at an early hour this 
morning, and having breakfasted before sunrise, we were enabled to make an early start. The 
river being frozen from bank to bank opposite our camp, I measured its width, finding it to be 
sixty-eight yards. The ice was twelve inches thick. The river, a short distance above our camp 
of last night, made a great bend to the west, and passing through a canon for three miles, per- 
fectly impracticable even for pack animals. Our trail tended more to the east, passing over a 
series of low sand ridges, affording us, however, a very excellent road, practicable for wagons. 
Crossing one of these low ridges, we fell upon a small rivulet, coming from the east, called the 
Yellow Clay Bank creek—so called from a large formation of yellow clay found on its banks, 
forming in some places bluffs as high as a hundred feet. The Indians collect this, using it 
for painting, &c. Travelling a distance of five miles over the ridges referred to, we again fell upon 
the Wisdom river, which here flowed through a beautiful prairie valley, hemmed in on each 
side by mountains, in which we found feeding large bands of antelope. The river continued 
to be wooded with the cotton-wood. The character of the grass and soil of this portion of the 
valley was the same as that below. Journeying up this valley a distance of three miles, the river 
made a second large bend to the west, passing through a rough and rugged cafion, impracticable 
even for pack-animals. A trail however, led over the mountains south of the cafon, and is the 
one travelled in going to the “ Big Hole prairie.” At this point we left the river entirely, and 
followed up the valley of a small willow run, which was from a mile to a mile and a half wide, 
affording an excellent road. We found the valley had been burnt over recently, showing that 
Indians had preceded us, probably the Nez Perces. The mountains on each side were high, and 
covered with the pine to about midway of their slopes. Arriving at the head of this willow river, 
we crossed low clay ridges, the latter of which formed the dividing ridge of the waters of the 
Wisdom river and those of the Hell Gate fork of the Bitter Root river. This ridge forms no obsta- 
cle whatever to the passage of wagon-trains, as the ascent and descent are both easy and gradual. 
Arriving on the summit of this divide, we could see to the north a high range of mountains, which 
the guide pointed out as being the ridge along the right bank of the Hell Gate fork. To our 
right lay a second but low ridge, which separated a small tributary of the Hell Gate from the 
main stream, and ended abruptly in a beautiful prairie valley. This ridge, as also the one in the 
distance, was clad withthe pine. On the dividing ridge we found snow two inches deep, though 
no snow was to be seen in the valley below; the only snow besides this being on the higher 
peaks of the ridges around us. Leaving this divide, we fell upon a small creek, whose waters 
flow into the Hell Gate river. Having travelled fifteen miles, we encamped ona small stream 
running from the mountains to our left, where we found good grass, wood, and water. We 
entered to-day the granitic region, as shown by the large detached masses and boulders from the 
mountains passed along the trail after crossing the dividing ridge. 'The weather to-day has been 
exceedingly warm and summer-like. We found the weather much warmer on the waters of the 
Hell Gate than on those of the Missouri. Thus did the close of the year 1853 find us once 
more on the waters of the Columbia, which we all greeted with feelings of joy, as we now had no 
apprehension of danger either from cold or the snow. We had all supposed that our labors on 
the expedition would have been closed before the end of 1853, but we still found ourselves 
travelling through the mountains in midwinter, apparently with as little concern as if it had 
been midsummer. 
January 1, 1854.—Commences clear and pleasant. We resumed our march at 8 a. m., which 
continued over a series of low rolling ridges, through whose valley flow small mountain streams, 
all of which when open empty their waters into a creek called the Spear Fish creek, which, eight 
