JOURNAL OF JOHN WORK 283
visited their traps and took 33 beaver. The river here divides into two forks and falls in from the other rivers and the Costen from the south. The former is that which the Indians rep- resented to be richest in beaver. We are mortified to find that as far as the men proceeded up it it is choked up with snow except in small spots here and there, and the valleys through which it runs, though of considerable extent, still covered with snow to a considerable depth in places 3 to 4 feet deep and farther up probably much deeper. The men who went farther up the south branch 15 and 20 miles suppose they have reached its head, a kind of swamp ; here though the valley is larger than in the other branch yet the snow lies equally deep, and farther on through a fine valley appears still deep. The wormwood is covered with the snow. In this state of the snow we can neither trap these little rivers in the mountains nor attempt to cross the mountains without the risk of losing some of our horses from the depth of snow and want of food. The only step we can take now is to abandon this road and seek another pass more practicable. It would take too much time to wait till the snow melts. Thus are the prospects of the little hunt which we expected to make of 600 or 700 beaver in this quarter blasted. The unprecedented lateness of the spring is greatly against our operations. The oldest hands even in the severest winters never witnessed the season so late. The men saw some buffalo on the verge of the snow, probably they had been driven there by the Blackfeet Indians whom we found here. The people killed some of the buffalo but they were so lean that they were scarcely eatable. Three of the men drew a herd of bulls into a bank of snow yesterday and killed 16 of them.
Sunday, April 24th.
Frost in the morning, clear, cold weather for the season during the day.
The men visited their traps, 14 beaver were taken. The water is rising, which is against the trappers. Two of the men saw 6 Blackfeet Indians high up the river yesterday,
