ELDORADO 43 



in the sun, made a soil wholly unfit for cultivation and 

 gave it a most leprous appearance. 



Soon after reaching Independence Rock early in the 

 afternoon, a party was formed, including our physi- 

 cian, Dr. Kirkbride, to visit the famous Devil's Gate, 

 about five miles distant. Our "guide book'' described it 

 as a place where the Sweetwater cuts through a granite 

 rock. The length of the pass is 300 or 400 yards and 

 the width 35 yards. The walls of rock are vertical 

 and 400 feet high, and the stream in the gate is almost 

 entirely choked with the masses of rock which have 

 fallen from above, and through which the water rushes 

 with a deafening roar. It is certainly a wonderful 

 freak of nature and well repaid the visit. 



Very soon after the return of the party, Dr. Kirk- 

 bride was taken suddenly and violently ill with 

 the cholera. He administered his own remedies and 

 gave directions to an attendant until he became uncon- 

 scious, but died before morning, about eight hours 

 after his attack. This was the only death that occurred 

 in our train. Our facilities for burial were very limit- 

 ed, but we did the best our circumstances permitted 

 and reverently and sorrowfully committed his body to 

 a shallow grave, with a blanket and buffalo robe for a 

 winding sheet. Dr. Kirkbride was about 30 years of 

 age, and by his kindly, helpful ways had endeared him- 

 self to all of our party. He had joined us on the lower 

 Platte, and we knew nothing of his family or address, 

 only that he was from Iowa, so we had no means of 

 advising his friends of his death. As I passed that 

 way three years later I looked for his grave, but was 

 unable to identify the spot where we had laid him. 



We had now been two and a half months on our jour- 



