Surprising a Ute Camp 313 
any point, I returned to report. Thompson decided to take 
this trail. It led us across strange country, and in one place 
for a long distance over barren sandstone into a peculiar valley. 
Here we camped about three miles from a great smoke, and 
the next morning ran right on top of a Ute encampment. At 
first we expected trouble, but there were only seven of the 
warriors, and they were, as we learned later, out of powder, 
so when they sighted us they disappeared. At last they re¬ 
turned, and we had a talk with them, trying to induce one to 
Butte in Grand Gulch. 
A tributary of the San Juan. 
Photograph by Charles Goodman. 
go with us as guide. They described the trails, but refused 
to go along. 
We camped one night near them, and then went on, arriving 
finally, after a great deal of trouble at the Unknown Moun¬ 
tains, since called the Henry Mountains, having taken a wrong 
trail. At one place we were obliged to take the whole pack- 
train up a cliff fifteen hundred feet high, making a trail as we 
went. On the top were some water-pockets. We watered 
the stock at one of these the next morning, when we were 
obliged fairly to lift the horses out of the gulch by putting our 
