41 [ 237 ] 



zitah watpa, usually translated by that of" Whjte Earth river," (or simply 

 White river,) means, mure properly, Smoking Earth river; whence I have 

 concluded that these indications of yseudo volcanoes were at the same time 

 evidences of the recurrence of the upper members of the cretaceous form- 

 ation, the limit of which I have assigned as being somewhere eastward 

 of the Black Hills. The name of " Mauvaises Terres" (bad lands) has 

 been applied to districts cut up into deep and intricate chasas, from which 

 the traveller could hardly hope to extricate himself without the assistance 

 of a good guide, and that are doubtless due to the burning out of their 

 pseudo-volcanoes. 



However this may be, there can be no doubt that the region of country 

 drained by these rivers which I have last mentioned, will present a wide 

 and fertile lieid of discovery to any geologist whose good luck it may be to 

 give it a thorough exploration. For there he will find an opportunity not 

 only of studying the continuation of the secondary cretaceous formation 

 previously described, but likewise of discovering the approach to a tertiary 

 formation ; the equivalents of which are doubtless to be found to the west 

 of the Rocky mountains, as they have already been to the east, on the At- 

 lantic borders. 



1 have reason also to believe, from specimens exhibited to me by the 

 Hon. L. Pratte, (who has made himself familiar with the subject during 

 hi;; repeated journeys to the Yellow Stone river,) that a rich harvest might 

 be confidently expected, in this direction, of bones belonging to the larger 

 mammiferas, such as characterize other portions of the hydrographical ba- 

 sin of the Missouri. Mr. Pratte was kind enough to oi^'ur me very valu- 

 able specimens of this kind ; the acceptance of which 1 felt compelled to 

 decline, owing to the circumstances under which 1 was placed rendering it 

 impossible for me to take charge of their transportation. These fossil re- 

 mains had been collected in the flat country bordering on the Ni obrarah, 

 or "■ Eauqiii- court"" river, at a distance of from 250 to 300 miles from the 

 entrance of this river into the Missouri. 



Fort Pierre Chouteau, or simply Fort Pierre, is the upper limit of my 

 navigation of the Missouri, and of the examination which I 

 Fort Pierre. ^^^^^ ^^ ^j^^ cretaceous formation that borders it. I had been 

 led there by the necessity of stopping to make preparations for my overland 

 journey, which was to take me over the great prairies to the north of the 

 .Missouri. The fort is situated on the right bank of the river, three miles 

 above Teton river, called by the Sioux Watpa-scldcha^ or Bad river ; and 

 frequently by the traders, Little Missouri ; though there is a river of this 

 name higher up, on the same side. 



We ar'rived at the fort on the I2th of June, 1839, having left St. Louis 

 on the 4th of April ; so that we were sixty-nine days in ascending a dis- 

 tance of 1.271 miles, which, on the Mississippi, and with a steamboat of the 

 same power, could have been accomplished in twelve days. 



The Antelope steamboat belongs to the American Fur Company of 

 St. Louis, then under the 'firm of Pratte, Cabane, & Co., afterwards un- 

 der that of Pratte, Chouteau, & Co., and now Pierre Chouteau t^ Co. 

 This steamboat is employed exclusively in the transportation of freight 

 for the use of the company : but, with an enlightened liberality, it never 

 fails to allow its convenience to travellers who are endeavoring to contrib- 

 ute usefully either to the arts or sciences. I am therefore indebted to 

 this spirit of accommodation on the part of the company for my passage, 



