116 IN THE OLD WEST 



the Pawnees, with yells of disappointed vengeance, 

 hastily retreated. 



That night La Bont6 first lifted hair! 



A few days after, the mountaineers reached the 

 point where the Platte divides into two great forks : 

 the northern one, stretching to the north-west, 

 skirts the eastern base of the Black Hills, and, 

 sweeping round to the south, rises in the vicinity 

 of the mountain valley called the New Park, re- 

 ceiving the Laramie, Medicine Bow, and Sweet- 

 water creeks. The other, or South Fork, strikes 

 towards the mountains in a south-westerly direc- 

 tion, hugging the base of the main chain of the 

 Rocky Mountains ; and, fed by several small 

 creeks, rises in the uplands of the Bayou Salade, 

 near which is also the source of the Arkansa. To 

 the forks of the Platte the valley of that river 

 extends from three to five miles on each side, in- 

 closed by steep sandy bluffs, from the summits of 

 which the prairies stretch away in broad undulat- 

 ing expanse to the north and south. The bot- 

 tom, as it is termed, is but thinly covered with 

 timber, the cotton woods being scattered only here 

 and there ; but some of the islands in the broad 

 bed of the stream are well wooded, leading to the 

 inference that the trees on the banks have been 

 felled by Indians who formerly frequented the 

 neighborhood of this river as a chosen hunting- 

 ground. As, during the long winters, the pasture 

 in the vicinity is scarce and withered, the Indians 



