170 
TOPOGRAPHY OF ROUTE FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE COLUMBIA. 
sidered, it will warrant the conclusion, that but an insignificant fraction of all the mountain 
country will prove unfit for some kind of useful purpose or improvement. 
By way of further illustration, however, of these mountains and the various routes by which 
they can be traversed, a more detailed description will now be submitted of the line of the 
odometer survey. 
Leaving Medicine or Sun river, the trail passes through two square-looking elevations, which 
seem as if they had been upheaved from the general surface to a height of about eight hundred 
feet, having a base each of at least a square mile, the table-land on the top corresponding with 
the surrounding country, and the almost perpendicular sides showing a regular stratification, 
such as, no doubt, obtains through this section generally. On the one to the northwest, the edge 
of the stratum of rock on the very top resembles a crown in some degree, on which account it 
was called “Crown Butte;” they are both called the “ Big Knees” by the hunters. From these 
curious features, which may be considered the gate or entrance to the mountains by this trail, 
there follows a succession of every description of mountain country. For the first twenty-five 
miles the trail winds a devious course to the southwest, through innumerable, naked, and rocky 
hills of moderate elevation, with rugged outlines; and, crossing several small streams, leads to a 
defile on the south fork of Dearborn river, which is the entrance proper of the Blackfoot or 
Cadotte’s Pass, as this point is accessible from other directions. On either side of this distance is 
a considerable extent of country in which the rocks crop out in every conceivable shape. In one 
case further progress is stopped, to all appearance, by an immense wall of rock, stretching from 
hill to hill across the ravine in which the train is moving. The guide, however, soon finds a 
narrow passage which admits one animal at a time, at the risk (which sometimes becomes a 
certainty) of tumbling into a deep muddy water-course which has its outlet here. In numerous 
instances the rocks project perpendicularly to a great height from the surface,- and, from constant 
disintegration by the action of frost, the accumulating detritus forms a regular slope around 
the base, which has a very artificial appearance. One of the most remarkable of these is 
the “Bird Tail Rock,” a pretty and appropriate name; it is probably not less than three hundred 
and fifty feet high, of which about one hundred and fifty feet of the upper half is a picturesque 
cluster of basaltic (?) columns, which attracts the notice of every traveller, and so straight that 
it baffles the most persevering efforts to ascend it. The writer and a companion made the attempt 
and arrived at a recess within about one hundred feet of the top : here was found the lair of 
some wild animal, probably a grizzly bear, judging from its size and the dung which lay about. 
It was perhaps a lucky circumstance for the visitors that Bruin happened to be “not at home.” 
The defile leading to the pass is ten miles through, in a course of southwest by south, and 
is walled in on either side by lofty mountains, whose steep sides are clothed almost to their sum¬ 
mits with an impenetrable forest of every species of pine. From the sources of Dearborn river 
a steep and laborious ascent of over a thousand feet attains the dividing ridge of the Rocky 
mountains; and on the other side a more sudden descent of about six hundred feet leads into a 
similar defile, where, immediately at the foot of the descent, rise the waters that flow to the 
Pacific. 
The view from the top of the dividing ridge should be often seen, to be well described, as 
every change of weather doubtless produces a corresponding change in the aspect of the vast 
scene. On the occasion of our crossing, although in the valleys the weather was mild and 
serene, on the top there blew a gale which well nigh took men and mules off their feet, and 
made it difficult to take a steady look in any direction. An endless succession of towering peaks 
and ridges stretched away into blue distance on every side, until the farthest outlines seemed 
indifferently to be clouds or mountains. The first snow had fallen and melted in the valleys, 
but still glistened in patches on the highest summits, giving them a sharp relief amidst the 
dusky pine-clad hills, that seemed to reflect their gloomy hues upon the sky; for although the 
sun was shining brightly, he seemed impotent to cast a cheerful ray upon the sombre and stormy 
