69 



live there now support themselves by trade with the Indians, which 

 being already overdone, it is to their interest to keep others away. 

 If the Indian title were extinguished, and the protection of the ter- 

 ritorial government extended there_, so as to be effectual, there would 

 soon spring up a settlement that would rival that of Great Salt Lake. 

 The Laramie river is a beautiful stream, with a fine fertile valley, 

 and there are such everywhere along the base of the mountains. Pine 

 timber, of the finest quality, in abundance grows there, easy of 

 access, from which the finest lumber can be made ; building stone of 

 good quality abounds. The establishment of the military post, and 

 the constant passing of emigrants, have driven away the game, so 

 that the Indians do not set a high value on the land, and it could 

 easily be procured from them. 



The 2:)eople now on the extreme frontiers of Nebraska are near the 

 western limit of the fertile portions of the prairie lands, and a desert 

 space separates them from the fertile and desirable region in the western 

 mountains. They are, as it were, on the shore of a sea, up to which 

 population and agriculture may advance, and no further. But this 

 gives them much of the value of places along the Atlantic frontier, 

 in view of the future settlements to be formed in the mountains, 

 between which and the present frontier a most valuable trade would 

 exist. The western frontier has always been looking to the east for 

 a market, but as soon as the wave of emigration has passed over the 

 desert portion of the plains, to which the discoveries of gold have 

 already given an impetus that will propel it to the fertile valleys of 

 the Rocky mountains, then will the present frontier of Kanzas and 

 Nebraska become the starting point for all the products of the Missis- 

 sippi valley which the population of the mountains will require. We 

 see the effects of it in the benefits which the western frontier of Mis- 

 souri has received from the Santa Fe trade, and still more plainly in 

 the impetus given to Leavenworth by the operations of the army of 

 Utah in the interior region. This flow of products has, in the last 

 instance, been only in one direction, but when those mountains 

 become settled, as they eventually must, then there will be a recipro- 

 cal trade materially beneficial to both. 



These settlements in the mountains cannot be agricultural to the 

 same extent as those on the Mississippi valley, but must depend 

 greatly upon the raising of stock. The country furnishes the means 

 of raising sufficient quantities of grain and vegetables for the use of the 

 inhabitants, and beautiful, healthy, and desirable locations for their 

 homes. The remarkable freedom here from sickness is one of the at- 

 tractive features of the region, and will, in this respect, go far to recom- 

 pense the settler from the Mississippi valley for his loss in the smaller 

 amount of products that can be taken from the soil. The great want 

 of suitable building material which now so seriously retards the 

 growth of the west will not be felt there. 



How far the fine timbers in the interior of Nebraska can be relied 

 upon to supply settlements on the Missouri is a question upon which 

 I am not qualified to give a very positive opinion. 



The pine extends along the Niobrara and its side ravines for about 120 

 miles, and there is nearly an equal extent of it on White river ; but on 



