He Proposed To Rejoin His Band In The Early
Part Of March, At The Winter Encampment Near The Portneuf.
All
these arrangements being completed, he mounted his horse on
Christmas morning, and set off with his three comrades.
They
halted a little beyond the Bannack camp, and made their Christmas
dinner, which, if not a very merry, was a very hearty one, after
which they resumed their journey.
They were obliged to travel slowly, to spare their horses; for
the snow had increased in depth to eighteen inches; and though
somewhat packed and frozen, was not sufficiently so to yield firm
footing. Their route lay to the west, down along the left side of
Snake River; and they were several days in reaching the first, or
American Falls. The banks of the river, for a considerable
distance, both above and below the falls, have a volcanic
character: masses of basaltic rock are piled one upon another;
the water makes its way through their broken chasms, boiling
through narrow channels, or pitching in beautiful cascades over
ridges of basaltic columns.
Beyond these falls, they came to a picturesque, but
inconsiderable stream, called the Cassie. It runs through a level
valley, about four miles wide, where the soil is good; but the
prevalent coldness and dryness of the climate is unfavorable to
vegetation. Near to this stream there is a small mountain of mica
slate, including garnets. Granite, in small blocks, is likewise
seen in this neighborhood, and white sandstone. From this river,
the travellers had a prospect of the snowy heights of the Salmon
River Mountains to the north; the nearest, at least fifty miles
distant.
In pursuing his course westward, Captain Bonneville generally
kept several miles from Snake River, crossing the heads of its
tributary streams; though he often found the open country so
encumbered by volcanic rocks, as to render travelling extremely
difficult. Whenever he approached Snake River, he found it
running through a broad chasm, with steep, perpendicular sides of
basaltic rock. After several days' travel across a level plain,
he came to a part of the river which filled him with astonishment
and admiration. As far as the eye could reach, the river was
walled in by perpendicular cliffs two hundred and fifty feet
high, beetling like dark and gloomy battlements, while blocks and
fragments lay in masses at their feet, in the midst of the
boiling and whirling current. Just above, the whole stream
pitched in one cascade above forty feet in height, with a
thundering sound, casting up a volume of spray that hung in the
air like a silver mist. These are called by some the Fishing
Falls, as the salmon are taken here in immense quantities. They
cannot get by these falls.
After encamping at this place all night, Captain Bonneville, at
sunrise, descended with his party through a narrow ravine, or
rather crevice, in the vast wall of basaltic rock which bordered
the river; this being the only mode, for many miles, of getting
to the margin of the stream.
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