314 
FROM THE FLATHEAD CAMP TO ST. MARY’S VALLEY. 
the Bitter Root valley: they represent that it is necessary to make but two crossings of the Mis¬ 
souri in the whole distance, the road coming in on the north side of this prairie bottom. 
September 23, 1853.—Commences very mild and pleasant, the thermometer at sunrise being 42°. 
We did not resume our march this morning till near 8 o’clock, when our trail lay over the beau¬ 
tiful prairie valley before referred to, which we found eighteen miles wide, crossing in the mean¬ 
while several prairie streams, all of which empty their waters into the Missouri. At 12 m. we 
halted on a stream coming from the west, finding here good water and wood, but very indifferent 
grass. Game to-da} 7- has been exceedingly abundant. Elk and antelope, which were seen in 
large bands during the day, loaded our table at eight. In the afternoon our course lay up the 
valley of a small stream, on which we nooned ; we here found the ravine exceedingly tortuous, 
the rocks along the valley many and rugged, though affording a very good road; the rocks on 
the side of the hills, which at times were of a dark cream color, at others of a smoky black, 
broken off and lined up to near the head of the ravine, when it increased to two miles in width, 
forming a very beautiful pine grove. The hills along this ravine were clad with pines growing to 
a height of forty feet, and perfectly straight. Our camp of this night was at the foot of the 
dividing ridge of the Missouri and Columbia waters, on a small brook emptying into the stream, 
along which we journeyed during the afternoon, where we found good wood, water, and excel¬ 
lent grass. The night of this day was very mild and pleasant. We killed during the day one 
elk and an antelope, the skin of the latter of which we secured and dried for an apishamo (sad¬ 
dle-cloth) for one of our animals. 
September 24, 1853.—Like many of the previous da} r s, commences mild and pleasant. We 
resumed our march at half-past 7 o’clock, our course being nearly due west, up a steep mountain 
of the dividing ridge, which was about one thousand feet high, above the bottom of the valley. 
Our course to its summit was necessarily very winding, from the nature and character of the 
ground. This mountain, as also the whole range, was well clad, the pine growing in some places 
perfectly straight, and to the height of a hundred feet. This particular mountain crossed by us 
was not practicable for wagons; though I am told there is one which, crossing the prairie referred 
to yesterday, crosses the mountains a few miles farther to the north, by a very easy and gradual 
ascent and descent, the only obstruction being the timber and the loose rocks and stones. 
On the top of this mountain we found a quagmire, in which our animals unfortunately plunged 
themselves; and it was with some difficulty that they were extricated. Gaining the summit of 
this mountain, we fell upon a beautiful prairie road, which led us to the headwaters of the Little 
Blackfoot fork of the Hell Gate river, being a tributary to the Clark’s fork of the Columbia. 
This stream we found well wooded, the cotton-wood and willow abounding principally; the tops 
of the mountains on each side were clad with pine. 
The mountains on our right were formed of a dark gray rock; which, having become very 
much disintegrated by the action of the frost, lay piled up to the height of many feet. At the 
foot of the mountains, for many miles, the valley of this fork was from a mile to a mile and a 
half wide, and covered with a rich growth of very nutritious grass. We nooned on the right 
bank of this stream, where one of our Indians caught a string of fine mountain trout. In nearly 
all the brooks and streams that we have met in the mountains thus far, we have found an abund¬ 
ance of fine trout; thus always affording us something for our table in the scarcity of game, 
which latter we found scarce again to-day, only one or two antelopes being seen in the valley. 
Resuming our march, we continued down the valley of this beautiful mountain stream, fording 
it at a distance of three miles ; when, to shorten our distance, we gained the top of a prairie hill, 
from which we had a fine view far into the distance; crossing, in the interval, several prairie 
streamlets that flow into the Little Blackfoot fork. We could see several small tributaries coming 
in from the east, winding through very beautiful prairie valleys; some of these streams being 
well wooded. Having travelled a distance of twenty-five miles, we camped on a tributary of 
the Little Blackfoot fork, finding here good wood and water, but not as good grass as we had 
