204 NARRATIVE OF 1855. 
crossing, and to observe and record the time occupied in moving from crossing to crossing, and 
was able, therefore, to estimate the distances with considerable accuracy. All down the valley 
are little spots of grass; it is, for the most part, wooded, but furnishes camping grounds for 
small parties. The difficulty in moving with a large party would be, that the animals would 
scatter in the woods a good deal; they would have no difficulty in getting plenty of grass to 
eat, but it would be somewhat troublesome to hunt them up and have them in readiness in the 
morning. This, I say, is the main difficulty of moving with a large party. Were the woods 
burned on a part of this route and grass seed sown, it would be as fine a route as I ever saw. 
Without going into very careful details, I will state that we crossed the St. Regis de Borgia 
thirty-nine times to-day, in no case, however, going over side hills to an extent to make a 
perceptible rise in our route. The low bluffs and hills immediately bordering the valley were 
not more than twenty or thirty feet high, and in every case they run back gently, covered with 
heavy pine, spruce, and larch, with occasionally a cedar. All the country adjacent to the 
valley is rich and arable. The heavy forest trees and cotton-wood on the streams furnish the 
most abundant material for the building of little settlements, and for railroad construction. I 
will here state that when I crossed in 1853 my health was exceedingly delicate, and I was not 
able to make that close and careful observation of the minute points of the country that I have 
been able to do on this present trip. Now, in regard to the crossings of the river, they were 
in every case easy fords. Тһе stream was іп no case more than from two to two and a half feet 
deep, and we made thirty-nine crossings without wetting a pack. "The banks of the river were 
generally from four to twelve feet above the present water level, which is only three or four 
feet above the highest water. "Throughout the day's journey excavations and embankments 
would be very moderate. "There was a great quantity of limestone on the route to-day, as well 
as yesterday. Speaking of the building materials— when I crossed over the mountain route in 
1853 and ascended the highest peak, which my friend Doty the subsequent year named after 
me, I saw vast quantities of limestone. Some three or four mountain peaks within twenty miles 
of me were, apparently, masses of limestone, and from the appearances of the out-croppings 
of that peak on the route, I am satisfied that the finest quarries of limestone and marble will 
be found; but the detailed examination of such matters belonged to the geologist, and I had 
not time to wait a day to make a minute examination. 
I observed to-day that in the crossing of the St. Regis de Borgia it would not be necessary in any 
case to resort to bridges requiring piers. Many of the crossings, however, would have to be very 
oblique to the course of the stream, in order to preserve the greatest possible directness in 
the line of the road and avoid sharp curvatures; yet, in every case, it would simply require 
abutments and a single arch or truss, There would be a good deal of culvert masonry on the 
route to-day; but in most cases dry walls will answer every purpose, and only occasionally will 
walls of masonry have to be resorted to for culvert work. I examined the river, also, in regard 
to drift, and found very little on its banks, another fact showing how light the freshets of 
the stream are; for it must be observed that occasionally there occurred on the immediate line 
of the stream heavy timber, with thick underbrush, presenting the only difficulty we had in 
moving with pack animals, and the cause of our crossing the stream so often. 
Tuesday, July 3.—We made sixteen miles to-day, and camped on the main Bitter Root. 
Although I had not in my train quite one hundred animals, yet they got scattered somewhat in 
the wood, and we were rather a long time in collecting them. But I saw that they were well 
filled, and in a condition to make a good day’s march. We continued down the river, passing 
over the same character of country as yesterday. Luxuriant grass occurred every mile or two- 
