246 MEDICINE-BOW BUTTE. 



the form of an ordinary skin lodge, which had been erected among 

 the timber by different war-parties : they appeared to be very 

 strong, and were ball-proof. 



From the river we turned more to the northward, in order to 

 pass around the northern end of Medicine-bow Butte, a small iso- 

 lated mountain, detached from the main range immediately south 

 of it. The ground rose gently for nine miles, when we reached 

 the bank of a small stream issuing from the pass between the 

 butte and the range just referred to. 



It was through this gorge that Fremont passed in 1842 ; but as 

 he had represented it as very rough, and our guides decla;i'ed it to 

 . be wholly unfit for the passage of wagons, it was determined to 

 look for a route farther to the northward. We halted to noon on 

 this little stream, to which we gave the name of ^<Pass Creek," 

 and to take a meridian observation, which gave the latitude 41° 

 87' 15''.8. Crossing this creek and passing over a pretty little 

 prairie, covered with grass, now cropped close by herds of buffalo 

 and antelope, we continued our journey near the northern base of 

 the butte for about ten miles. At night, we encamped upon a 

 branch of Rattlesnake Creek, at the foot of a spur, the sides of 

 which were covered with a heavy growth of pine. The route tra- 

 velled from the Platte has been too far to the right for a good 

 wagon-road. By following up a wide, smooth valley running 

 parallel with our route, and about a quarter of a. mile to the left, 

 an excellent road may be obtained, with a regular ascent, until 

 reaching the south branch of Rattlesnake Creek, where some un- 

 even ground, but presenting no material obstruction, will have to 

 be encountered. 



Numerous bands of buffalo and antelope were seen during the 

 day, and in the afternoon, a monstrous bull was killed ; but the 

 hunters took only a piece of hide from the back, to make lash- 

 ropes for the packs, the marrow-bones from the hindlegs, and the 

 tongue, leaving at the very least six hundred weight of good beef 

 on the ground for the wolves and the ravens. In several places 

 along the route to-day, I noticed fragments of white crystallized 

 sulphate of lime, bituminous shale, clay-slate, and marble; and 

 after striking the valley of Rattlesnake Creek, indications of coal. 

 Latitude of camp by observation, 41° 40' 45''.2. Longitude, 106° 

 43' 37". Day's march, twenty-three miles. 



Tuesday^ September 24. — Ther. at sunrise, 51°. Last night 

 was cloudy, and we lost an observation of Altair. A good one of 



