560 FROM CANTONMENT STEVENS TO OLYMPIA. 



the rain, and my guide was determined to avail himself of the offer, but finding that I had pushed 

 on without him, he rejoined me in the course of an hour. We made to-day twenty-four crossings 

 of the stream, and encamped at dark in a small prairie, which the guide said was the last between 

 this and the divide. 



September 26. Continued up the stream, and after making twenty-four crossings and passing 

 over some very bad roads, on account of willow thickets and fallen timber, we came to where 

 both the stream and the trail fork. The left-hand trail commences immediately the ascent of 

 the mountain, while the other continues up the right-hand or northern fork, apparently through a 

 valley similar to that up which we have been travelling ; and this I wished, supposing it to be 

 the route over which Lieutenant Mullan passed, and reported by him to be a better route than 

 the one surveyed by Mr. J. M. Stanley. But my guide persisted in saying that it was a very 

 bad road ; that the mountains were high ; that it was miry, and there was much fallen timber ; 

 and that the other was the only trail used for many years. Being therefore in doubt as to which 



was the trail explored by Mr. Stanley, and which by , we followed the trail to the 



left, and, after ascending for seventeen miles over mountains of very steep ascent, reached the 

 summit, and it was then only that I could be certain this was the same route passed over by 

 yourself and Mr. Stanley. 



We encamped on the summit, at two small lakes, in a basin five hundred feet below us, arid 

 which were only accessible by a very steep road worn in the side-hill, showing that this is an 

 old encamping ground. 



September 27. There was a heavy frost last night, as might be expected upon an elevation of 

 some eight thousand feet above the sea. Early in the morning I ascended a point of rocks four 

 hundred feet above our camp, and at sunrise, as the first rays touched upon the peaks of this 

 seemingly boundless chain of mountains, the scene was beautiful and grand. This peak, which 

 seemed to be the highest in the range, I have named Mt. Stevens. Upon the north side it is 

 covered with luxuriant grass to the summit, while on the south it has a perpendicular descent of 

 basaltic rock for one thousand feet, to the two small lakes, appearing, from this elevation, no 

 larger than a mirror. From this point a good view of the whole country is obtained, and I 

 sketched it in yesterday s route. It is evident that a better route than this can be obtained by 

 following up the north branch of the St. Regis Borgia to its source and crossing a low divide to 

 the Cceur d Alene river. This is the route passed over by Lieutenant Mullan, and he will no 

 doubt report upon it. 



Continued to-day along the dividing ridge, alternately ascending and descending. The loftier 

 and more dense growth of timber indicates that we are reaching a lower altitude. In ten miles 

 travelling we reached the last descent, which is six thousand feet, almost perpendicular. The 

 road has been rendered slippery by recent rains, and I esteem it fortunate to find myself and 

 party in safety at its foot. In a quarter of a mile from the base of the mountain we struck the 

 Cceur d Alene river at its upper forks. The south branch comes from the high mountains on the 

 southeast, while the north branch flows through an extensive valley running nearly due east and 

 west ; and through this valley passes the trail which it was my intention to pursue. I am confi 

 dent that the best route is up this branch to its source, and passing over a divide which cannot 

 be less than three thousand feet below the level of our last night s camp, to the St. Regis Borgia, 

 down that stream to the Bitter Root river. Lieutenant Mullan, who passed over this route last 

 spring, is of this opinion, and also expressed the belief that a good wagon road can be made 

 through this pass at a moderate expense. 



Continued down the river, crossing and recrossing frequently, and passing numerous small 

 branches coming in on either side. The timber, chiefly fir and cedar, is of a size much superior 

 to any we have heretofore seen. Many of the cedars were ten feet in diameter, and not less than 

 two hundred and fifty feet in height. At 4 p. m. we reached the first grass since our encamp 

 ment of last night. It is a small prairie upon the river, and is a good encamping ground for a 



