18 
DIVIDE BETWEEN THE SMOKY HILL AND ARKANSAS RIVERS. 
good ford, in a low stage of the water, which we call the Lone Oak ford, as there is here a remark¬ 
able solitary oak tree in the bottom. We remained here till 1 o’clock, and then passed over, the 
wagon body just clearing the water, and ascended the slope for a mile, but turned down again 
to cross a creek near the bottom. From the top of the ridge we discovered a lone butte, S. 
33° W., and another S. 25° W. Our course bore thence over the heads of a creek well wooded 
with a stunted growth of ash, walnut, oak and cotton-wood. Here we found the choke-cherry 
ripe. Keeping up the ridge for some time on the right of this creek, we found no signs of passing 
over to Walnut creek, as promised by our guides, and therefore we turned a little more west- 
wardly and down the slope to a nearly dry creek. On the way we passed a small spring com¬ 
ing from under a sandstone bluff, but preferred to go a half mile farther to the creek, on which 
the walnut tree prevails, interspersed with oak, elm and cotton-wood. At the place where we 
crossed the Kansas the valley is not tnore than a quarter of a mile wide ; and though it widens 
in places above, as we could see from the hills, the course of the plain is more winding than 
below, and probably it will be found advisable in the construction of a railroad to deflect to the 
mouth of the Huerfano from near this point of the river. It will, however, require minute explo¬ 
ration to find the best point and to obtain the best grade for a railroad, as the creeks coming in 
from the south make deep indentations in the rolling prairie. The rise from the Kansas is not 
abrupt; the hills sweep down gracefully, and no serious difficulties are in the way of a good track. 
But the timber has become more scarce and dwarfish. The hills are composed of a hard red clay, 
with occasional beds of gray or white clay. They are sometimes covered with fragmentary sand¬ 
stone; and escarpments at other planes show the stone in situ and stratified. We here discov¬ 
ered a very cool spring, the water appearing chalybeate, from which we hope for some happy 
effect upon several persons of the party who are slightly ill. The spring bursts up in considera¬ 
ble volume near the dry bed of a creek. 
“ July 10.—Remained in camp to rest man and beast. In the afternoon we were visited by 
one of those violent rain and wind storms which are well known to travellers of the Plains. 
The ground was soon covered an inch deep with water. The dry bed of the creek flowed 
with a strong muddy current, which continued till we left on the following morning. We 
gathered wild cherries, (choke,) currants, and gooseberries, and the wild grape-vines were loaded 
with green fruit. 
“ July 11.—Starting at 6.30 a. m., we had a wet, foggy morning till 7. In a few miles we came 
to the summit of the ridge between the waters of the Kansas and Arkansas rivers. Here we had 
a broad, level country before us, and in the distance a ribbon of trees was visible on Cow creek, 
to which we gently descended. The creek is swollen by yesterday’s rain to twelve feet in width 
and two in depth in the centre. Barometer’s reading at 9 a. m., before passing the summit, 
28.237 ; thermometer 80°; and on the plain, at 11 o’clock, after passing, 28.276, thermometer 89°. 
Here we saw the first buffalo, which the hunter killed. It proved to be a bull feeding alone, 
but as he was pretty fat we had some of it cooked for dinner. At 12 m. we arrived at the 
‘ Sand-Banks,’ which border the northwest branch of the Little Arkansas. This stream is very 
muddy and swollen by recent rains, being now forty feet wide and two feet deep in the centre. 
We had now traversed, for fifteen miles, a plain with gullies cut deep by the branches of Cow 
creek—our general course having been S. 50° W. The rise from camp to the summit was very 
gentle, and it was so slightly marked that it was not observed till we had passed it some distance. 
The 9 o’clock barometrical reading given above will determine the altitude of this summit-level 
with accuracy. After nooning we crossed the creek below the drifting sands, which are on the 
south side, and extend one mile in length and a half mile in breadth; we then crossed them 
diagonally, and continued on uneven sand-knolls, which are fixed by vegetation, for a mile. A 
variety of shrubs grow on these sand-hills, among which is the wild plum, very much dwarfed, but 
loaded with unripe fruit. We then descended slightly to a flat, which is clayey and too low for 
a road for wagons. At a short distance from the base of the knolls the helianthus grows densely, 
