Their Rifles Being
Thus Rendered Useless, They Were Unable To Procure Food By
Hunting And Had To Depend Upon Roots And Wild Fruits For
Subsistence.
After suffering extremely from hunger, they arrived
at Laramie's Fork, a small tributary of the north branch of the
Nebraska, about sixty miles above the cliffs just mentioned.
Here
one of the party, by the name of Scott, was taken ill; and his
companions came to a halt, until he should recover health and
strength sufficient to proceed. While they were searching round
in quest of edible roots, they discovered a fresh trail of white
men, who had evidently but recently preceded them. What was to be
done? By a forced march they might overtake this party, and thus
be able to reach the settlements in safety. Should they linger,
they might all perish of famine and exhaustion. Scott, however,
was incapable of moving; they were too feeble to aid him forward,
and dreaded that such a clog would prevent their coming up with
the advance party. They determined, therefore, to abandon him to
his fate. Accordingly, under presence of seeking food, and such
simples as might be efficacious in his malady, they deserted him
and hastened forward upon the trail. They succeeded in overtaking
the party of which they were in quest, but concealed their
faithless desertion of Scott; alleging that he had died of
disease.
On the ensuing summer, these very individuals visiting these
parts in company with others, came suddenly upon the bleached
bones and grinning skull of a human skeleton, which, by certain
signs they recognized for the remains of Scott. This was sixty
long miles from the place where they had abandoned him; and it
appeared that the wretched man had crawled that immense distance
before death put an end to his miseries. The wild and picturesque
bluffs in the neighborhood of his lonely grave have ever since
borne his name.
Amidst this wild and striking scenery, Captain Bonneville, for
the first time, beheld flocks of the ahsahta or bighorn, an
animal which frequents these cliffs in great numbers. They accord
with the nature of such scenery, and add much to its romantic
effect; bounding like goats from crag to crag, often trooping
along the lofty shelves of the mountains, under the guidance of
some venerable patriarch with horns twisted lower than his
muzzle, and sometimes peering over the edge of a precipice, so
high that they appear scarce bigger than crows; indeed, it seems
a pleasure to them to seek the most rugged and frightful
situations, doubtless from a feeling of security.
This animal is commonly called the mountain sheep, and is often
confounded with another animal, the "woolly sheep," found more to
the northward, about the country of the Flatheads. The latter
likewise inhabits cliffs in summer, but descends into the valleys
in the winter. It has white wool, like a sheep, mingled with a
thin growth of long hair; but it has short legs, a deep belly,
and a beard like a goat.
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