286 THE NEW PARK. 



Proceeding by the valley of a creek tributary to the above river, the day 

 following we came to a considerable branch from the south, and camped 

 near its mouth, for the purpose of kiUing bufialo, of which vast numbers 

 tlironged the vicinity. 



Tlie valleys of the Yampah and Little Bear were broad, in places, with a 

 deep soil ol' dark, sandy loam, and tolerably weil timbered. 



The country contiguous to them was rugged and generally sterile ; the 

 soil, with the excej^tion of the creek bottoms, being shallow and sandy, and 

 infested with extensive fields of absinthe. 



By the way we passed a fort, formerly occupied by a company of trap- 

 pers under the connnand of Frapp, near which himself and four other 

 whites were killed in an engagement with the Sioux some two years since. 

 The Indians lost fifteen or twenty of their warriors in killed and wounded, 

 but succeeded in driving ofT eighty head of horses as their booty. 



Among the rocks of the hills I noticed frequent clusters of larb, richly 

 laden with its deep red berry,* both tempting to the eye and pleasing to the 

 taste. 



On reaching the Platte we were ushered into a large and beautiful circu- 

 lar valley, known as the New Park. 



This valley is thirty-five miles in width by thirty in breadth, and is shut 

 in upon all sides by lofty mountains, whose summits tower far above the 

 snow-line and sport their white-caps through each returning year. It is 

 well watered by numerous streams that trace their course from the neigh- 

 boring heights to commingle with the Platte. 



The river makes its exit from this place by a forced passage through nar- 

 row defiles, between the Medicine Bow and New Park Mountains, forming 

 a canon several miles in length, defined by precipitous walls, varying in 

 height from fifty to six hundred feet. 



The New Park valley affords considerable timber of various kinds, and a 

 fertile soil, well adapted to cultivation. The superfice is usually a thick 

 mould, compounded of clay, sand, and gravel, with decomposed vegetable 

 matter ; while the bottoms disclose a rich alluvion of two or three feet 

 depth. 



The entire country was crowded with game, in countless numbers, both 

 of buffalo, elk, and deer. It seemed as though a general ingathering from 

 mountain, hill, and plain, had taken place to winter in this chosen spot. 



It is said the great abundance of game first suggested the christening of 

 the locality as ti;e Neio Park. 



We remained in our encampment till the 5th of December, and improved 

 the interval in procuring a choice supply of meat, and feasting upon those 

 delicious viands which mountaineers so well know how to acquire and dis- 

 pose of. 



The day preceding our departure, a fall of snow covered the ground for 



* The larb-berry is of a deep red color, and somewhat larger than the common cur* 

 rant. It is of a sweet spicy taste, and very pleasant. It grows upon a small ground* 

 vine of evergreen, witli a leaf assimilating the winter-clover in shape, ard is found 

 cnly in mountainous regions. 



