Its Course Is Generally Through Plains, But Is Twice
Crossed By Chains Of Mountains; The First Called The Littlehorn;
The Second, The Bighorn.
After it has forced its way through the
first chain, it is called the Horn River; after the second chain,
it is called the Bighorn River.
Its passage through this last
chain is rough and violent; making repeated falls, and rushing
down long and furious rapids, which threaten destruction to the
navigator; though a hardy trapper is said to have shot down them
in a canoe. At the foot of these rapids, is the head of
navigation; where it was the intention of the parties to
construct boats, and embark.
Proceeding down along the Popo Agie, Captain Bonneville came
again in full view of the "Bluffs," as they are called, extending
from the base of the Wind River Mountains far away to the east,
and presenting to the eye a confusion of hills and cliffs of red
sandstone, some peaked and angular, some round, some broken into
crags and precipices, and piled up in fantastic masses; but all
naked and sterile. There appeared to be no soil favorable to
vegetation, nothing but coarse gravel; yet, over all this
isolated, barren landscape, were diffused such atmospherical
tints and hues, as to blend the whole into harmony and beauty.
In this neighborhood, the captain made search for "the great Tar
Spring," one of the wonders of the mountains; the medicinal
properties of which, he had heard extravagantly lauded by the
trappers. After a toilsome search, he found it at the foot of a
sand-bluff, a little east of the Wind River Mountains; where it
exuded in a small stream of the color and consistency of tar. The
men immediately hastened to collect a quantity of it, to use as
an ointment for the galled backs of their horses, and as a balsam
for their own pains and aches. From the description given of it,
it is evidently the bituminous oil, called petrolium or naphtha,
which forms a principal ingredient in the potent medicine called
British Oil. It is found in various parts of Europe and Asia, in
several of the West India islands, and in some places of the
United States. In the state of New York, it is called Seneca Oil,
from being found near the Seneca lake.
The Crow country has other natural curiosities, which are held in
superstitious awe by the Indians, and considered great marvels by
the trappers. Such is the Burning Mountain, on Powder River,
abounding with anthracite coal. Here the earth is hot and
cracked; in many places emitting smoke and sulphurous vapors, as
if covering concealed fires. A volcanic tract of similar
character is found on Stinking River, one of the tributaries of
the Bighorn, which takes its unhappy name from the odor derived
from sulphurous springs and streams. This last mentioned place
was first discovered by Colter, a hunter belonging to Lewis and
Clarke's exploring party, who came upon it in the course of his
lonely wanderings, and gave such an account of its gloomy
terrors, its hidden fires, smoking pits, noxious streams, and the
all-pervading "smell of brimstone," that it received, and has
ever since retained among trappers, the name of "Colter's Hell!"
Resuming his descent along the left bank of the Popo Agie,
Captain Bonneville soon reached the plains; where he found
several large streams entering from the west.
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