Journey from 
Fort Crocket 
to the South 
Fork 
way we saw many single buffalo, and small herds; 
and Swiss, who is unrivaled in running down buffalo, 
killed a cow for us. The buffalo herds now became 
more and more frequent, and almost every day we 
shot a fat cow, of which we took only the best pieces. 
On the evening of August 25th we reached again 
the left shore of the North Fork of the Platte, at a 
point we had not touched on our journey up, and in 
bee line perhaps one hundred miles distant from Fort 
Laramie. ‘The river here was broad, but shallow, 
and we crossed it with ease. But we left it imme- 
diately, to go in southeastern direction to the South 
Fork. We reached it in about eight days. On the 
first we crossed with moderate ascensions the moun- 
tains belonging to the North Platte; on the fifth day, 
a second chain, the watershed between the North 
Fork and South Fork, over which there is also a con- 
venient pass. The geological formations were again 
sand and lime stone. Chiefly pine grew on the moun- 
tains. On the seventh day we reached Powder Cache 
Creek, a stream flowing into the South Fork; and on 
the ninth day the South Fork itself. The country 
between the North Fork and the South Fork is mainly 
a broad plateau with sandy soil, sparse grass, and a 
few birch groves like oases in the midst of the prairie. 
Buffalo abounded, and we lived in plenty, for almost 
daily we shot a cow. We also encountered several 
bears. Once, when we had pitched our evening camp 
near a little grove, a great grizzly bear approached 
unobserved within twenty feet of our camp. At the 
