APPENDIX A.—DIARY OF THE EXPEDITION. 85 
It was concluded to halt here for a day or two to take some astronomical observations, and 
also to await the arrival of Lieutenant Marshall and party. 
Having been cloudy all day, the night was ushered in by a violent storm of wind and rain. 
It was the only rain we experienced since we started. 
Animals herded, grazed, &c., as usual. No observations taken during the day or at night. 
General direction, north 40° east; miles, 6^. 
General remarks upon the country from the Sulphur springs to the Clear Fork of the Brazos .— 
Between the Sulphur springs and the dividing ridge of the Colorado and Brazos we passed over 
a country generally well timbered with the mezquite. The country is generally rolling for this 
distance. Between the Sulphur springs and the main Bed fork of the Colorado it is intersected 
by ravines, of easy ascent and descent, tributary to the Colorado, having a course about north¬ 
east! We found an abundance of water at distances of from three to ten miles ; we passed it 
during the dry season, and no doubt water can be always obtained. The Bed fork, or main 
stream of the Colorado, (almost forty-four miles east of the Sulphur springs,) runs in a very 
zigzag course to the southeast, through a valley about one and a quarter mile in width, bor¬ 
dered on both sides with red sandstone bluffs, from which an easy ascent can be had to the 
stream at any point. 
The immediate bed of the stream is about twenty feet in width, with miry bottom and per¬ 
pendicular banks ten feet in height; rendering its pass up for wagons, except at particular 
points, very difficult. The water, which is slightly brackish, is found in pools or holes con¬ 
nected by a swift-running stream. From the main Colorado to the dividing ridge between it 
and the Brazos (a distance of 28 T \ miles) we encountered two principal tributaries, both having 
rocky and gravelly beds, with pure water and a considerable growth of timber. The route 
passed over a gently-rolling country, firm and hard, having an abundance of grass, intersected 
with many ravines of easy ascent and descent, tributary to the main stream, and running in a 
southerly and southwestern direction. The country is similar in all respects, except in having 
a greater growth of mezquite timber, to that on the west of the Colorado. 
The dividing ridge (between the waters of the Colorado and Brazos) is elevated probably 100 
feet above the Colorado, and from the head of the most easterly tributary to that stream, along 
the route, to the first tributary of the Brazos, is a fine high plain about 1^ mile in width. 
About five miles east of this dividing ridge we crossed Marcy’s trail and the first tributary of 
the Brazos, (supposed to be a tributary of the Double Mountain fork ;) from thence to a small 
tributary of the Clear fork of the Brazos we passed through a country generally level, and 
most of the way through a thick forest of mezquite timber. The only break in this line of 
country occurs between a tributary of the Clear fork and a tributary of the Brazos: a high 
mesa or table-land lies between them; descending from which, in the exact line of our route to 
the eastward, a descent of about 100 feet presents itself. This is easily avoided by passing about 
a mile to the north. The first tributary of the Clear fork, which we struck at a distance of- 
miles from the supposed Double Mountain fork, is about 20 feet wide, banks 10 feet high, having 
a very tortuous course to the southeastward, through a level plain bordered on the east side by 
a low ridge of sand about 1^ mile across. The waters of this stream are in many places quite 
salty. The principal stream, which runs between this point and the Clear fork, is a much larger 
one, and is tributary (in a northeast direction) to the main branch of the Brazos; has abund¬ 
ance of timber, elm, hackberry, and other trees ; and traverses, in a very zigzag course, a beau¬ 
tiful and fertile valley, about three miles in width, bounded by very gentle elevations, covered 
by forests of mezquite. 
The Clear fork of the Brazos is a large stream, heavily timbered, about 20 yards in width, 
and in many places 10 to 15 feet deep ; very pure and clear water. The stream runs in a zig¬ 
zag course, through a very narrow valley or canon, with rocky bluffs about 150 feet high, and 
the surface of the stream is about that distance below the general level of the country. 
