Earlier, Before The Snow
Became So Deep, I Passed The Last Great Haunt Of The Magnificent
Mountain Bison, But, Unfortunately, Saw Nothing But Horns And
Bones.
Two months ago Mr. Link succeeded in separating a calf
from the herd, and has partially domesticated it.
It is a very
ugly thing at seven months old, with a thick beard, and a short,
thick, dark mane on its heavy shoulders. It makes a loud grunt
like a pig. It can outrun their fastest horse, and it sometimes
leaps over the high fence of the corral, and takes all the milk
of five cows.
The snow grew seriously deep. Birdie fell thirty times, I am
sure. She seemed unable to keep up at all, so I was obliged to
get off and stumble along in her footmarks. By that time my
spirit for overcoming difficulties had somewhat returned, for I
saw a lie of country which I knew must contain South Park, and we
had got under cover of a hill which kept off the sun. The trail
had ceased; it was only one of those hunter's tracks which
continually mislead one. The getting through the snow was awful
work. I think we accomplished a mile in something over two
hours. The snow was two feet eight inches deep, and once we went
down in a drift the surface of which was rippled like sea sand,
Birdie up to her back, and I up to my shoulders!
At last we got through, and I beheld, with some sadness, the goal
of my journey, "The Great Divide," the Snowy Range, and between
me and it South Park, a rolling prairie seventy-five miles long
and over 10,000 feet high, treeless, bounded by mountains, and so
rich in sun-cured hay that one might fancy that all the herds
of Colorado could find pasture there.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 186 of 274
Words from 50746 to 51056
of 74789
