Ex. Doc. Ncr. 41. 393 



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off from Fort Leavenworth the day after we had left, determined 

 to overtake us. We' were delighted at his safe arrival; nor were 

 we less pleased v>'hen we found that he had brought letters from the 

 friends and relatives whom we had left behind. 



July 3. — We arose early this morning to gain as much of the cool 

 portion of the day as possible^ determined to push on and see if 

 we could not get rid of the flies that are so troublesome to 

 our horses. The poor brutes seem to have no time to graze;^ and, 

 when picketed out, they employ their feeding time in rolling in the 

 grass and kicking frantically, so thai the ground resounds with 

 the stamping of their Ifbofs; and, in taking observations with the 

 aid of the artificial horizon, one is obliged to select a spot at some 

 distance from the horses, to prevent the jar which they produce 

 from disturbing the surface of the mercury. The season appears to 

 be unusually dry; 110 mile creek, which at this lime last yearwas^ 

 full of w-ater, now has only a few scattered pools in its bed. 



All day we had a brisk breeze fiom the southwest, making the 

 travelling very pleasant. The plover and cow birds were playing 

 along the road in front of us, and catching the grasshoppers that 

 w^ere scattered around in unlimited profusion. 



At 10 o'clock, havilig marched 15 miles, we reached Independence 

 creek, so called by Colonel Fremont, in consequence of our encamp- 

 ing here on the 4th of July, one year previous. This creek con- 

 tains the only running water we have seen siiice leaving our camp 

 by the Wakaroosa river. Along the road side, I gathered a plant 

 called lamb's quarter, (chenopodium album,) the plaintain weed, 

 (plantago major,) and a beautiful sensitive plant, with a yellow 

 flower, slightly resembling the violet, (cassia chamaecrista.) 



We encamped seven miles beyond Independence creek, in a ravine 

 timbered wnth the elm, the cotton wood, the hickory and the oak- 

 Some of our hunters went out and killed several wild turkeysj 

 (meleagris gallopaoo.) We saw a flock of curlew, (numenius lon- 

 girostris,) and some teal, (anas carol.) . 



Saturday^ July 4. — At 5^ o'clock, this morning, we crossed the 



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high ridge in a direction S. 60^ W. Whilst prosecuting our march 

 we noticed two distant spots in the horizon; and, as we neared them, 

 we judged, from the white light that one of the objects reflected, 

 that they might be mounted men. Before long we met them, and 

 found our conjectures correct. They said they were traders, and 



had been as far as Council grove. 



At 7 o'clock, we crossed a stream of running water; at 8 o'clock, 

 we reached one composed of pools, its banks heavily timbered with 

 walnut, and we also noticed the buckeye, (pavia lutea,) and, skirt- 

 ing the stream, gooseberry bushes, (ribes triflorum,) and elder.. At 

 12 o'clock, we reached Rock creek. This stream is very appro- 

 priately named, as its banks chiefly consist of rock. Near where 

 the road crosses there is a large pool from four to five feet in depth, 

 forming a fine bathing place; but we did not stop here, as we w^e 

 anxious to reach some eminent place Ja honor of the day. We 



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