RETURNING EMIGRANTS. 19 



however, had been subsequently filled up with sticks by some com- 

 passionate traveller. It was an affecting object, and no good omen 

 of what might be looked for, should any of us fall by the way in 

 our long and arduous journey. Upon a ridge near our noon halt, 

 was found considerable detritus of primitive rocks, scattered over 

 the surface of the ground, and many boulders of granite. Above 

 this lay the limestone, the lower strata of which appeared to be 

 composed of honey-comb limestone ; the upper strata were more 

 sandy and without fossils. After a march of seventeen and three- 

 fourths miles, encamped on the left bank of what our guide called 

 Legerette Creek. The banks, at the crossing, were high and steep, 

 and afforded some very good sections of limestones interspersed 

 with shales. A road had been made, with no little trouble, by the 

 emigrants, down the banks on each side, and the crossing was tole- 

 rably good. The stream is thirty feet wide by one foot deep, and 

 flows with a bold and rapid current into the Missouri. The strata, 

 exposed by a section at the crossing, the direction of which was 

 S. S. E. and N. N. W., were limestones with strata of shales, con- 

 formable, with a marked dip of 12° to the west, and containing a 

 considerable number of fossils, productus, spirifer, &c. Our camp 

 for the night is situated on the edge of a beautifully broad and 

 level prairie, nearly elliptical in form, almost encircled by this 

 lovely stream, whose banks are fringed with the richest foliage : 

 noble old oaks, elms, and walnuts overhang the water, with a back- 

 ground of rising hills covered with grass and flowers. 



Friday^ June 8. — Bar. at sunrise, 28.79; Ther. 68°. Wind 

 north-east, cool and delightful. A small party, with a single 

 wagon, drove into camp just as we were leaving the ground. They 

 had formed part of a company from St. Louis, had proceeded 

 within sixty miles of Fort Kearny, but had quarrelled, and be- 

 come disgusted with the trip and with each other, and had sepa- 

 rated. These persons were on their return to St. Louis. They 

 gave discouraging accounts of matters ahead. Wagons, they said, 

 could be bought, upon the route of emigration, for from ten to fif- 

 teen dollars apiece, and provisions for almost nothing all. So 

 much for arduous enterprises rashly undertaken, and prosecuted 

 without previous knowledge or suitable preparation! What else 

 could be expected ? The road to-day has been quite circuitous, 

 ranging from S. by W. to W. by N. We have been following the 

 ridge dividing the two main forks of Legerette Creek, just above 

 the junction of which we encamped last night. Extensive grassy 



