IN THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS. 91 



fell and expired within twenty feet of where he stood when I 

 gave him the first round. He was a large, finely-formed, 

 noble-looking animal. His fur is finer, darker and curls 

 more than that of the plains buffalo, and he usually ranges 

 alone or in pairs, while his cousin of the prairies is strictly 

 gregarious 



From the top of the peak on the left of and near where 

 our noble bison fell we enjoyed one of the grandest scenes in 

 the Western country. Away across to the south and west we 

 see the snow-capped peaks of the Wind River mountains 

 already mentioned, while to the west rise the great domes, 

 walls and peaks of the Rocky range. Blue and smoky 

 though they seem, still we can plainly see the snow, and 

 through the glass can distinguish the timber from the bare 

 rocky earth above the timber line. We can locate several of 

 the peaks in and surrounding the national park, a hundred 

 and thirty miles away. To the north and west loom up the 

 Snow mountains, and still further north the Crazy moun- 

 tains all belonging to the Rocky system. Intermediate 

 between us and them flow, besides the streams already men- 

 tioned, the different branches of Pryor's river, Clark's fork, 

 Rocky fork, and others, all of which empty into the 

 Yellowstone, whose course we can trace far up toward its 

 source and away down toward its mouth. 



We saw signs of mountain sheep during the day, but none 

 of the "critters" themselves. We moved northward along 

 the top of the range, and in the afternoon crossed down on 

 to the western slope, where we found a large spring and 

 camped. To our surprise our mules and pony were not 

 thirsty at all, notwithstanding they had lived two days and 

 nights without water, having eaten snow only as a means of 

 quenching thirst. They drank but little here, and seemed to 

 care very little whether they drank any or not. But for 



