152 Reminiscences of 



which was ill-advised, and which we could not make 

 owing to its roughness, with accumulated snow in the 

 passes, although it was the first of July. We had ex- 

 pected .an additional guide familiar with the route who 

 had a camp at the lower end of Trail Creek, but he had 

 struck some rich surface pay ore on the Freeland Lode 

 near by that was too attractive for him to leave, but 

 would send up Dixie with us to the end of the creek near 

 the Divide. We supposed he meant some companion 

 of his, which he did, though it turned out to be a long- 

 eared donkey, which he assured us would most faith- 

 fully take us through to the Divide if we would keep 

 him ahead and not let him turn back, and we might 

 let him return alone when we got through with him. 

 This gave us a good deal of amusement, besides creat- 

 ing a suspicion that we might find ourselves on some 

 sort of a wild-goose hunt before we got through, which 

 turned out to be the case. We were at the end of the 

 settlement, and the expected man, Holland, could not 

 or would not go, and we had no resource but the donkey. 

 It was early in the day when we started on over a 

 trail, which, distinct enough on the start, soon gave 

 out entirely. We, however, kept Dixie on the lead 

 despite his frequent evinced determination to go back. 

 We had the running creek anyhow for a guide, and we 

 could not lose that, though we had to cross it a great 

 many times, and had to leave it often and go around 

 hills which were too precipitous to climb, or which met 

 at the stream where no passage existed on either side. 

 Our objective destination for the day was Chicago 

 Lake, so called, near the summit, which was a pond 

 about half a mile in width, and noted under the roman- 

 tic name it had, as having been the locality at which 



