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 -tion : one of these is to rob the settlements along the frontier of the States ; 
and the other is to'form a league between the various tribes of the Sioux 
“nation, the Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, and make war against the Crow 
‘nation, in order to take from them their country, which is now the best 
-eountry in the west. This plan they now have in consideration ; 
-and jt would probably be a war of extermination, as the Crows have long 
been advised of this state of affairs, and say that they are perfectly prepared. 
“These are the best warriors in the Rocky mountains, and are now allied 
with the Snake Indians; and it is probable that their combination would 
-extend itself to the Utahs, who have long been engaged in war against the 
‘Sioux. It is in this section of country that my observation formerly led 
me to recommend the establishment of a militar 
The farther course of our narrative will give fuller and more detailed 
— of the = disposition of the buffalo in the country we 
visi 
the roots we obtained bere, I could distinguish only five or six 
different kinds; and the supply of the Indians whom we met consisted 
lly o yampahy, (anethum, graveolens,) tobacco root, (valeriana, } 
and a vad root of a species of thistle, ( circium Virginianum, ) which now 
is occasionally abundant, and is a very agreeably flavored vegetable. 
We had been detained so long at the village, that in the afternoon we 
made only five miles, and encamped on the same river after a day’s jour- 
ney of 19 miles. The Indians informed us that we should reach the big 
salt water after having slept twice and travelling in a south direction. The 
stream had here entered a nearly level plain or valley, of good soil, eight or 
ten miles broad, to which no termination was to be seen, and lying between 
ranges of mountains which, on the right, were grassy and smooth, unbro- 
ken by rock, and lower than on the left, where they were rocky and bald, 
increasing in height to the southward. On the creek were fringes of young 
ws, older trees” being rarely found on the plains, where the Indians 
burn the surface to produce better grass. Several magpies (pica Hudsonica) 
were seen on the creek this afternoon ; and a rattlesnake was killed here, 
_ the first which had been seen since leaving the eastern plains. Our camp 
“to-night had such a hungry appearance, that I suffered the little cow to be 
killed, and divided the roots and berries among the people. A number of 
Indians from the village encamped near. 
e weather the next morning was clear, the thermometer at sunrise at 
4 Sead” rs and, continuing down the “valley, i in about five miles we followed 
* the ittle creek 0 our encampment to its junction with a larger stream, 
called Roseaua, or Reed river. Immediately opposite, on the right, the 
range was gathered into its highest peak, sloping gradually low, and run- 
» ning Off to a point apparently some forty or fifty miles below. Between 
this. (now become the valley stream) and the foot of the mountains, we 
~ journeyed along a handsome sloping level, which frequent springs from the 
made occasionally miry, and halted to noon at a swampy spring, where 
haps: were good grass and abundantrushes. Here theriver was forty feet 
wide, with meeuereote current; and the valley a mile and a halfin 
breadth oil being generally sood, of a dark color, and apparently well 
Itiv tion. tape bad become bright and pleasant, with the 
( ae. observation, our latitude was 41° 59’ 31", and the 
Wve the sea 4, “an feet. On our left, this afternoon, the range 
tervals { net ay Seger sppetrg, to emai) anots 
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