326 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
have made it ? For 200 miles we traveled at the rate of ten miles an hour through 
the barren alkaU desert of Idaho, great clouds of dust enveloped us and pene- 
trated our clothing, giving us all a death like appearance ; three times a day we 
stopped an hour at dirty stage stations, where for the small sum of one dollar we 
ate hot bread and bacon, and drank strong, clear coffee; the proprietors had evi- 
dently not settled here for their health but for dollars. One very unhappy ac- 
cident occurred on the stage that preceded us. The driver fell from his seat, and 
the horses ran, tipped over and dragged the stage for some distance. One large 
man was severely injured and was taken into a stage station. Three months later 
he was still lying there helpless, I never learned whether he recovered but think 
it doubtful. Well, we passed safely through the Port Neuf Canon, where road- 
agents usually called on the passengers to stand and deliver. The mountains 
were hailed with delight, and we were soon amid the pines, and at Pleasant Val- 
ley we feasted on trout, and thereafter our fare was much better. At Helena we 
rested a couple of days and then proceeded to our outfitting post, Fort Benton, 
at the head of navigation on the Missouri River, a rough, frontier town where 
gambling seemed to be the chief business, in connection with drinking whisky.. 
Here we procured our outfit, consisting of four work horses, a large 
wagon, and three saddle horses, tent, rations, etc. We traveled down the Mis- 
souri River, and went into camp at Dog Creek, sixty miles below. This creek 
is a few miles from the mouth of the Judith River. I will try and give my 
readers some idea of the hardships and sufferings that fall to the lot of the explorer. 
We were in an unknown country with neither trail or wagon road, and we were 
in a dangerous country. Our fossil fields lay in the neutral grounds of the Sioux 
and Crow Indians. Here, though they had always been deadly enemies, they 
buried the hatchet while they hunted buffaloes, in the great Judith River Basin, 
for the sustenance of their squaws and little ones. In this country were count- 
less herds of mule-deer and antelope, and the high prairies were dug up by grizzly 
bears for wild artichokes. The rich prairies and along the mountain sides were 
covered with luxuriant bunch grass, providing an endless food supply ; it cures 
early in fall, and is superior to hay during winter. The Bad Lands along all the 
water courses are full of mountain sheep. It is indeed a veritable hunter's para- 
dise, and is the great store-house from which the Indians for many years have 
drawn their supplies. The soil is rich from the accumulated mold of centuries. 
The basin is miles and miles in extent, and is bounded by the Judith River and 
Medicine Bow Mountains: countless streams of pure water flow through it. After 
the buffalo and Indians have disappeared it will make one of the grandest farm- 
ing lands in America. When our party visited this beautiful country it was 
entirely under the sway of the red man. No cattle grazed on the rich grasses. 
The bosom of mother earth had never felt the sharp plow-share. No adventurous 
frontiersman had built his cabin along the clear stream. From these facts you 
will understand the dangerous land we were in. 
Prof. Cope's first work on reaching Fort Clagget was to make friends of the 
Crow Indians: a couple of thousand were camped here when we arrived, prepar- 
