302 FROM FORT BENTON TO THE FLATIIEAD CAMP. 



finding a ford with water from two to two and a half feet deep, we made the crossing in safety. 

 The Missouri at this point flows with a rapid current over a rocky and pebbly bed, and is bounded 

 on each side b}^ a range of dark-colored hills or bluffs, about 100 feet high and destitute of timben 

 and which, on examination, proved to be composed of dark sand and clay commingled ; our 

 course being a few degrees east by south, and striking for the Belt or Girdle mountains, the base 

 of which we reached at the distance of twenty-two miles from the Missouri. After journeying 

 over this prairie for a distance of six or eight miles, we descended into the valley of a small 

 stream called the Shonkee creek, which rises in the Belt mountains, and empties into the Missouri 

 about one mile below Fort Benton. It is quite shallow, and very winding and tortuous. The 

 valley of the stream is three hundred yards wide, which during the spring season is overflowed 

 to the depth of thirty feet, and with a rapid current. The grass in this valley we found to be very 

 rich and luxuriant. The stream itself is but slightly wooded, except at its head, where the pine 

 is found in abundance, and growing to a large size. We crossed this creek five times during the 

 day: fordable at each crossing. From the great number of dams observed, we saw that beaver 

 in abundance are to be found in its waters. We continued up this stream at times in its valley, 

 at limes along the bluff that bounded it for a distance of twelve miles, when we reached what 

 is called the Grand Coulee, running along the base of the northern slope of the Belt mountains. 

 It is half a mile wide, and extends for many miles along the base of the mountains. We crossed 

 this coulee and entered on a broad level prairie, which extends to the base of the mountains 

 towards the east. Here we saw deer, which being very wild and shy, we were unable to secure 

 one for our night s repast. Having travelled a distance of twenty-two miles, we encamped on a 

 clear cold stream running from the Belt mountains, where we found good grass and an abundance 

 of wood. 



At night we took the precaution to picket our animals, over which a guard was placed until 

 daybreak the next morning ; for we were now on the great thoroughfare of the Blackfeet Indians, 

 who, like so many bloodhounds, follow the tracks of the Flatheads on their roads to the hunt; 

 and this being the highway between the Muscle Shell and Fort Benton, the nearest trading post, 

 we felt the necessity of using every precaution in securing our animals from these treacherous 

 and well-known horse-thieves. The night was clear, mild, and pleasant, but with a very heavy 

 dew. We were not provided with a tent during our whole journey across the mountains, but we 

 slept on this night as comfortably, rolled up in our blankets, as if we had been resting under some 

 hospitable roof in more civilized climes. 



September 10, 1853. This day commences mild and pleasant ; the thermometer, at sunrise, 

 being 65 Fahrenheit. We resumed our march at 7.30 a. m., our course being in an easterly 

 direction, striking for the Butte Canee of the Belt range of mountains, which lay on our course 

 to the Muscle Shell river, through a valley which should have been named the Dog Town valley, 

 for there were certainly more of the prairie dogs in this valley than I have ever seen in the prairie 

 before, yelping and barking like so many bands of wolves. These prairie dogs make a most 

 excellent dish, and constitute one of the luxuries of the country. Our journey continued through 

 this valley until noon, for a distance of twelve or fifteen miles, when we halted on a fork of the 

 Arrow river, which rises in the Butte Canee, a prominent landmark of the Belt mountains. A 

 spur of the Belt mountains we continued to have to our right; it is a high and rugged range, 

 having a general direction of east and west, and about 1,000 feet above the level of the valley. 

 These mountains are covered with a growth of large pine, which is cut and used by the Ameri 

 can Fur Company at Fort Benton, and is found to be exceedingly durable, the wood being found 

 principally on the slopes and in the valleys of the mountains. I observed along the sides of this 

 valley, or the bluffs that bound it, several beds of slate-colored rocks, at times of a form resem 

 bling basalt, and at times in horizontal layers from twelve to fifteen inches thick. Large masses 

 of granite rock were also to be seen, covering, in places, areas of several acres square, which, 

 being detached from the mountains by the frosts, were lying strewed in every direction at their 



