212 NARRATIVE OF 1855. 
our journey to-day, (some 32 miles,) as being through one of the most delightful well watered, 
and well grassed countries I have ever seen; and here must be a fine place for settlements. 
We camped this evening near the mouth of the Salmon Creek river, on the banks of the Big Black- 
foot; and our guide again to-night regaled us with the beautiful moüntain trout of this country. 
Looking to our day’s journey of yesterday and to-day, I began to see how much this country 
was a prairie country; how open the forest land was; how generally arable it was; and I was 
able to realize the truth of the description of the Jesuit missionaries who had preceded us. 
The following itinerary of this day’s journey is worthy of mention. The first seven miles is 
through a prairie valley, generally from three to four miles wide, at the end of which distance 
we come to the trail already referred to, leading to the Kamas prairie on the left bank of the 
Big Blackfoot. Here is a low spur, closing the view from the river and running in a northeast 
and southwest direction. The next mile and a quarter is over alow ridge and through open 
wood, which may be considered a portion of the Blackfoot valley. In a mile and a half we 
came to a stream of running water, the country very well grassed on each bank, and in three- 
quarters of a mile further to a fork of the Blackfoot, with a wide open prairie re-entering run- 
ning well to the north. Неге is the point where Mr. Tinkham left the Big Blackfoot valley, in 
September, 1853, to make the cut-off to the Jocko. In two miles and a half further on we 
strike the Big Blackfoot. This particular valley narrows to a quarter of a mile, but the general 
valley of the river is wide and open. The immediate valley of the Blackfoot is generally 
about six to ten feet above the water level. Going on two miles and a quarter we cross a consider- 
able stream coming in from the left, and in two miles strike the Blackfoot again. Here, also, 
the Blackfoot winds through an open, low-banked valley, the width of the undulating or knob 
prairie of this general valley being at this point from eight to ten miles. For the next six miles 
the route passes through the knobby prairie already described. Throughout the valley of the 
Big Blackfoot, in this portion of its course, no sharp curve or abrupt descent will be required, 
_ and the immediate valley is quite wide and uniform. Three hundred yards above our camp of 
this evening is the mouth of the Salmon Trout creek, which flows into the Big Blakfoot from 
the north, and passes between rocky bluffs just above its mouth. These bluffs furnish very 
good building material, and thus will be useful to a wagon road or railroad construction. 
Saturday, July 21.—Commencing our journey a little after 7 o’ clock in the morning, we crossed 
in two miles and a quarter the Salmon Trout creek. The valley of the Blackfoot is now some seven- 
teen miles wide, well watered and well grassed throughout. The larger streams, however, come 
from the north. After making nine miles from our morning’s camp, we reached my camp of 
September 25 and 26, 1853, and Lieutenant Donelson’s camp of September 24 to 26, 1853, on 
the main Big Blackfoot, south of which point the valley makes a large re-entering to the south, 
with banks above the water level some sixty feet, although at Lieutenant Donelson’s camp the 
width of the banks above the water is but twenty feet; at this point the Blackfoot flows nearly 
southward some five or six miles, at which point it receives a tributary running nearly from the 
east. Here there is a very extensive prairie valley bordered by a rolling prairie country. 
Although we did not have a good view of the upper portions of this tributary, yet, from infor- 
mation collected from our guides, we learned that there were considerable prairies and good 
land nearly all the distance up to the divide of the Rocky mountains, from whence it had its 
source, and that, also, in this direction there is a trail leading to the waters of the Missouri. 
| Starting, however, from our camp of 1853, and keeping on the north bank of the Blackfoot, 
passing over a low bluff coming well down to the banks of the river, in a quarter of a mile we 
came to the entrance of the сайоп, so called, not because its sides are perpendicular bluffs, but 
