MISSOURI RIYER FROM GREAT FALLS TO MOUTH OF MILK RIYER. 
491 
We have passed six islands to-day; the two largest of them are known as “ Elk” and “Pretty 
Horse” islands. The latter w r as so called from its having been used by the Fur Company some 
years ago as a range for their horses. Among a number of rapids passed to-day, the following 
are the most impcftant, viz: One opposite Pretty Horse island, depth two feet; one about five 
miles below that, depth one foot eleven inches; one known as “Kip’s rapids,” nearly two miles 
above “Citadel Rock,” depth two feet one inch; and one about three-quarters of a mile above' 
camp, depth one foot eleven inches. At all these points the channel was very good. Distance 
travelled to-day by water 21.3 miles. 
The 25th was cold, stormy, and windy, and we remained in camp all day. After breakfast I 
went up to the bluffs to get a nearer view of some of those pillars of sand, with sandstone caps, 
referred to in yesterday’s journal. By climbing up a goat-path, which, by the way, was no easy 
matter, I succeeded in getting on the top of one of the globes that rested on a short pillar, and in 
passing from that to some of the others that were near it. All the bulls in this clump were 
nearly of the same size—between six and eight feet in diameter; and, as far as the eye could 
detect, as perfectly round as if they had been turned. They had evidently at some remote period 
formed part of a stratum of sandstone that runs through the adjacent bluffs and overlies a thick 
stratum of partially cemented sand; and having become detached from it by frost or otherwise, 
had been shaped by the action of the weather. 
At the foot of the bluffs, and in the small runs that led down to the river, were traces of a 
lignite, and in places* glauber salt had collected by efflorescence on the surface. During my 
absence from the camp the men killed two more big-horns. Width of the river at this point, 
1S0£ yards. 
September 26.—This morning we selected the choicest portions of the three big-horns killed at 
the camp, and stowed them away in the boat for future consumption; for the weather now had 
become so cold that there was little danger of its spoiling for the present, and it was considered 
decidedly preferable to bacon. The remainder we left for the wolves, who had prowled around 
with great impatience for the last twenty-four hours for their share of the game. 
The high and precipitous sand and sandstone banks previously noticed, continued for a few 
miles farther this morning, when they became entirely changed in character, receding farther 
from the river and becoming less abrupt, and covered with a little vegetation. Long narrow 
bottoms skirted the river on one or both sides, sprinkled with cotton-wood and covered with grass. 
About 11 o’clock we passed the mouth of Arrow river, a small stream emptying into the Mis¬ 
souri on the south side. There is some timber here, though not much of a width of interval. 
This is the point where the Fur Company established Fort Cotton after abandoning old Fort 
McKey. There are scarcely any traces of the old stockade left now. 
About five miles lower down the river the bluffs become very high, and receding on both sides, 
but much more regular and less broken on the south than on the north side of the river. There 
are some traces of vegetation on the bluffs, but no wood except a scattering growth of small 
stunted pines, which confine themselves entirely to the higher portions, and looked as if they 
scratched together a livelihood with a great deal of difficulty up there. 
Soon after 4 o’clock we camped in a fine, broad and well-wooded bottom, between the mouths 
of the Judith and Dog rivers. The Judith is a small clear stream with a rocky bottom, rising in 
* A subsequent analyzation by Dr. A. A. Hayes, of Boston, of a small quantity collected, gave the following component parts : 
In 100 moisture..... 3.20 
Sulphate of lime. 5.60 
Sulphate of alumina and iron. 3.52 
Sulphate of soda.1..... 43.40 
Insoluble sand............................_44.00 
99.72 
