20 ON THE FKONTIER. 



known as " buffalo wallows," and seamed with deep narrow 

 gullies, " wash-outs " of rain storms, and covered with a 

 carpet of coarse " bottom grass," nearly waist-high in many 

 places. 



This bottom had bluffs varying in height from a few 

 feet to a couple of hundred, and was of an ever varying 

 width. Coincident with the river from its source to its 

 mouth, it might have been called with propriety "The 

 Valley of the Republican." 



The formation of the ground seemed to be bottomless 

 sand, and the banks of the river were always perpendicular 

 at one side of it, and sloped gently on its other ; the per- 

 pendicular wall and the slope regularly alternating from 

 side to side with the change of direction of the river's 

 course ; the banks being perpendicular and timbered when 

 salient, and where the river made a re-entering bend, 

 sloping and grassy. 



Where we were, the bottom had so many prairie-dog 

 towns scattered over it as to make galloping quite dan- 

 gerous ; and the inhabitants of them, prairie-dogs, owls, 

 rattlesnakes, and rabbits, seemed to be the original arid 

 only settlers in the country. 



The succeeding day we journeyed up the valley, keeping 

 the general course of the stream, but taking the chord of 

 its numerous arcs. On the second day's travel along it, on 

 coming to where the river swung round ahead of us in an 

 unusually large bend making an elbow, in fact it was 

 thought best to attempt a cut off, so we then left the river 

 valley, ascending the bluff to tLe general level of the 

 country. 



