IN THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS. 53 



seen to be intelligently understood. General Sully's descrip- 

 tion of them, however, will bear repetition here, for it is 

 multum in parvo. He tersely characterized them as " hell 

 with the fire out." Some idea of the expense of building a 

 railroad through this country and along these winding streams 

 may be derived from the fact that there are 473 bridges on 

 the Missouri division, which is only 221 miles long. 



We arrived at Glendive at 7:^30 o'clock in the evening, 

 and were cordially greeted by Major Bell and Lieutenant 

 Slocum, of the Seventh cavalry. Mr. T. C. Kurtz, who is in 

 charge of the company's store at that place, fed and lodged 

 us in a most hospitable and comfortable manner. As soon as 

 I arrived, I commenced to figure on the means of getting 

 from there to Miles City and Fort Keough. Fortunately I 

 formed the acquaintance of Dr. G. E. Bushnell, an army sur- 

 geon, who was en route to Fort Ellis, via Fort Keough, and 

 who was coming through in an ambulance. I drew on my 

 ample supply of cheek, and requested permission to accom- 

 pany him, which he kindly granted. Accordingly we left 

 Glendive at seven o'clock the next morning, on a construc- 

 tion train destined for Cabin Creek, fifteen miles further on, 

 where the Doctor's ambulance was awaiting him. 



We reached it in good time, hastily transferred ourselves 

 to it, and our baggage to an escort wagon, and were off for a 

 seventy miles drive up the Yellowstone. The mules were in 

 good condition, the drivers gave them the buckskin vigor- 

 ously, and the cloud of dust we left behind us showed the 

 other voyagers in the valley that we were not disposed to 

 waste any time making the journey. We arrived at Captain 

 Snider's camp, at the mouth of Powder river, at four o'clock 

 in the evening, where a relay awaited us. The captain invited 

 us to a sumptuous lunch, which we discussed with a relish, 

 while the fresh teams were being hooked on. When these 



