288 IN THE OLD WEST 



til it meets the fertile valley of the great Missouri. 

 Over this boundless expanse nothing breaks the 

 uninterrupted solitude of the view. Not a tree or 

 atom of foliage relieves the eye; for the lines of 

 scattered timber which belt the streams running 

 from the mountains are lost in the shadow of their 

 stupendous height, and beyond this nothing is 

 seen but the bare surface of the rolling prairie. 

 In no other part of the chain are the grand char- 

 acteristics of the Far West more strikingly dis- 

 plaj'^ed than from this pass. The mountains here 

 rise on the eastern side abruptly from the plain, 

 and the view over the great prairies is not there- 

 fore obstructed by intervening ridges. To the 

 westward the eye sweeps over the broken spurs 

 which stretch from the main range in every direc- 

 tion ; whilst distant peaks, for the most part snow- 

 covered, are seen at intervals rising isolated above 

 the range. On all sides the scene is wild and dis- 

 mal. 



Crossing by this path, the trappers followed the 

 Yuta trail over a plain, skirting a pine-covered 

 ridge, in which countless herds of antelope, tame 

 as sheep, were pasturing. Numerous creeks inter- 

 sect it, well timbered with oak, pine, and cedar, 

 and well stocked with game of all kinds. On the 

 eleventh day from leaving the Huerfano, they 

 struck the Taos valley settlement on Arroyo 

 Hondo, and pushed on at once to the village of 

 Fernandez — sometimes, but improperly, called 



