124 VICINITY OF THE MEDICINE BOW. 



The fast melting of the snow, and anticipated difficulties, not to say- 

 dangers, consequent upon high water in the passage of creeks and rivers, 

 influenced us to adopt the latter as the most advisable course. 



Such was the final decision, and, the men with me being familiarly 

 acquainted wi'th every nook and corner of the adjacent country, I improved 

 the opportunity to elicit from them all possible information relative to the 

 Oregon route from this onward ; and, never having personally travelled 

 from Independence Rock to the head of Green river, it may not be out of 

 place to lay before the reader a succinct statement of some of the items 

 thus gleaned. 



The distance from this point to the famous South Pass is but little over 

 one hundred miles. The trail follows the Sweet Water to its source, 

 keeping the river valley for most of the distance. This valley consists of 

 an undulating prairie, (at intervals rough,) varying in width from the 

 narrow limits of a few yards to the more ample dimensions of four or five 

 miles. 



Sometimes, the adjoining hills close in upon the river banks and force 

 the trail among their rugged windings. In one place the road leads over £i 

 high stretch of table land for nearly a day's travel, when it again descends 

 to the valley. 



The stream, in places, is tolerably well timbered with cottonwood, oak, 

 and aspen, and rolls over a rocky bed, with a clear and swift current. 



The distance through the pass is about fifteen miles, and the ascent 

 and descent are so gradual the traveller would scarcely notice the transi- 

 tion from the head of the Sweet Water to that of the Colorado. The hilla 

 at this point are low, and the face of the country rolling — but not rough, 

 affording at all times a most excellent waggon road. 



On the morning of the fourth day, we accordingly retraced our course, 

 and, having traversed a rugged and hilly country for some ten or twelve 

 miles, we camped in a small open prairie at the mouth of the Sweet 

 Wat r. 



During our ride we noticed several large bands of wild sheep, at inter- 

 vals, gazing upon us from huge masses of granite that towered with 

 isolated summits to a frequent altitude of sixty or one hundred feet. 



The next morning, we crossed the Sweet Water a little above its 

 mouth. 



The ford was quite feasible, the stream being some ten yards wide and 

 three or four feet deep, with a bed of sand and pebbles. 



From this point, travelhng up the Platte for about ten miles or more, 

 we arrived opposite the creek previously alluded to, and, crossing at a shoal 

 place a short distance above, camped in a grove of cottonwood and 

 willows, at the delta formed by the confluence of the two streams. 



There are several bottoms of very rich soil in this vicinity ; but back 

 from the river the country is rough and hilly. 



Westward the Sweet Water mountains, distant some ten miles, showed 

 their craggy peaks, and to the north and east the piny crests of the Black 

 Hills burst upon the sight ; while southward, a succession of high, rolling 

 prairies opened to view a variety of romantic and beautiful scenery. 



