Othniel Charles Marsh. 9 
Rocky Mountain regions, and thenceforth his energies were 
mainly devoted to their exploration. Scientific expeditions to 
the western country were undertakings of considerable magni- 
tude in those early days. There was but one railroad in the 
United States across a region measuring fifteen hundred miles 
square. White settlements were sparse and remote. Most of 
the country was unmapped, and with the exception of a few 
transcontinental trails, almost the whole western half of the 
continent, save the regions bordering the Pacific, was a 
boundless expanse of unknown arid plains, mountains, and 
valleys. Added to these conditions were the indigenous tribes 
of war-loving Indians, hostile to the whites. Under such cir- 
cumstances, travel was slow, difficult, and dangerous. It was 
necessary to have an escort of soldiers and guides, experienced 
in western life and Indian warfare. 
The first Yale Scientific Expedition was organized and engi- 
neered by Marsh in 1870. The party consisted of thirteen 
persons besides the officers and men of the military detach- 
ments who escorted them from various military posts along 
the route.* They explored the Pliocene deposits of Nebraska 
and the Miocene of northern Colorado, then crossing into 
Wyoming they made collections in the Eocene (Bridger Basin), 
and passing south discovered a new Eocene basin in Utah 
(Uinta Basin). At each of these places many important finds 
were made. The party next visited California, where minor 
collections were obtained from the Pliocene. Returning, they 
* Members of the Yale party were O.C. Marsh, C. T. Ballard, C. W. Betts, 
A. H. Ewing, G. B. Grinnell, J. W. Griswold, J. R. Nicholson, C. McC. Reeve, 
J. M. Russell, H. B. Sargent, J. W. Wadsworth, E. Whitney, Jr., and H. D. 
Ziegler. The escorts consisted of:— 
From Fort McPherson, Nebraska.—Commanding officer, Gen. Eugene A. Carr. 
Lieuts. Bernard Reilly, Jr., and Earl D. Thomas, in command of escort, 5th Cav- 
alry; Buffalo Bill and Major Frank North, guides; and two Pawnee Indian 
scouts (‘‘Lahurasoe” and ‘Tuckatelous ”’). 
From Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming.—Commanding officer, Gen. John H. King. 
Capt. Robert H. Montgomery and Lieut. James McB. Stembel, in command of 
escort, 5th Cavalry. 
From Fort Bridger, Wyoming.—Commanding officer, Major R. S. LaMotte. 
Lieut. W. N. Wann, in command of escort, 13th Infantry; Mexican guide (‘Joe 
Talemans ”’). 
From Fort Wallace, Kansas.—Commanding officer, Gen. Henry C. Bankhead. 
Ed, Lane, guide; Lieut. Charles Braden, in command of rescue troop. 
