Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 7.pdf/332

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
326
Overton Johnson and Wm. H. Winter.

amined the company's trail, which he seemed to be doing. He was, however, in all probability suspicious and went away and we saw nothing more of him or any other Indians. Having waited half an hour longer and finding that he did not return, we left our place of concealment and followed the company, three of whom we met after having gone about five miles, returning with our horses to meet us.

Overtaking our companions, we continued to travel up the river, finding now an abundance of grass in its bottoms and on its tributaries, which were still very rare. Fifty miles above our unfortunate encampment we left the river, and the last of our wounded animals. About the head of Marie's River there is a large extent of country covered with a superior quality of grass, the stalks, branching out into numerous heads, are loaded with seeds which are highly nutritious.

Leaving the valley, we crossed the spur of a mountain, which was also covered with grass, and came to waters running North, towards Snake River; and for fifty miles the country over which we traveled afforded excellent grazing. At the termination of this distance we came to a spot containing several acres full of small pools of hot water. From these hot pools we traveled over a mountainous country, leaving the main range, which was broken in several places by deep gaps, several miles to the left and between us and the Valley of Snake River. The grass became less abundant as we advanced, a great portion of the country became quite barren.

At one hundred miles from the Hot Pools we came to and crossed the Raft River, which empties into Snake River, twenty-three miles below the American Falls. Thence we crossed the main range of mountains, South of the Valley of Snake River, through a large deep gap, and at thirty miles came to the river five miles below the