Rocky fountain Trip 
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The soil is very soft and is covered with aspen groves and wil¬ 
lows and the most luxuriant grass possible. 
Sept, loth : Broke camp in the beautiful park and marched 
down the lor; country between Han cos and Lost Canon. The pine for¬ 
ests succeeded the aspens and oak brush is quite dense. The cret. 
shales do not occupy much of the surface below the bend of the 
Mancos. By three o'clock we reached the trail which runs to the 
great bend of the Dolores. Came upon Red Jacket's camp a few 
miles above the mouth of Lost Canon. There was a small village 
of the ordinary conical tepees, smoked at the top,about which 
were a number of bucks and squaws and children. Some idling, 
some horse racing and some"engaged in drying great quantities 
of yucca. It is a funny place for camp, being upon the edge 
of the sage brush plain some 200 feet above the hed of the stream. 
Harry and I stopped to have a powwow with Red Jacket, found him 
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quite sick sitting on the ground, naked below the waist and smeared 
with white powder or flour. lie conversed freely, however, saying 
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that the Abajo country, about which we asked him, was ve^y unsafe 
especially to the northwards, but allowed that a "poco ttempo 11 
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trip to the eastern base would be '‘bfeno. He inquired about the 
return of Capt. Moss to the Laplata camp. Said that most of the 
Utes were in the Navajo country and that Old pog was on the San 
Juan. Rode on to the great bend of the Dolores and were much 
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pleased to find that the report that there were four or five 
hundred Indians camped there was totally incorrect. Two exor¬ 
bitantly ugly and comical fellows came into camp in a little 
while wishing to "watch .our horses" to find out who we were and 
when we were going and perhaps above all to get something to eat. 
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