~ 
, 
' with some indistinct fossils; the other an argillaceous, soit, 
7 [ 26 ] 
May 27.—Made eight miles in the morning, to Switzler’s creek, a fine 
running water. In the afternoon we passed three small creeks, and en- 
camped on the fourth, Fish creek, (10 miles.) 
May 28.—Passed inethe morning two small creeks, and halted at noon 
on the third, Pleasant Valley creek, (15 miles.) The camp deserves its 
name: there is good grass, and plenty of water and timber, the three great 
requisites of aprairiecamp. On the opposite bluffs exist two kinds ofjime- 
tone: one is compact, white, like the carboniferous limestone near St | 
camped in the prairie, as we had taken wood and water 
29.—Went five miles to Bluff creek, also a bea 
any other on this road. A strip from halfa mile to one mile in width of tim- 
ber skirts the water-course; the trees are full grown and of good size, and con- 
sist mostly of oak, hickory, walnut, elm, ash, ete. The vegetation is quite 
luxuriant, and the soil very fertile. “For agriculture, as well as raising stock, 
the place would Be excellent. The bluffs on both sides of Council Grove 
consist of a grayish argillaceous limestone, without fossils. Several graves 
of Indians, as well as of white men, are here erected in the usual prairie 
manner, with rocks heaped upon the ground. 
ouncil Grove forms, as it were, a dividing point in the character of the 
country east and west of it. he country east of itis formed of prairie, with 
slight ascents and descents—constant undulations, as I might call them; 
. sometimes shorter and more rapid; sometimes larger and fuller, resembling 
the waves of the ocean, which no doubt once covered those plains, and 
partly moulded their present form. Of those slight undulations, the baro- 
metrical measurements will give evident proof. Big Blue camp was 1 
feet elevated above the sea; Council Grove is 1,190; and the highest inter- 
mediate point is 1,420 feet, on the divide between the waters of the Osage 
rally less fertile than in the eastern portion, but all along its water- 
Ly : os. 
courses (as Cottonwood creek, Little Arkansas, Walnut creek, Ash creek, 
