And Fortunate It Was That He Did So; For In A Little
While He Encountered One Of The Phenomena Of The Western Wilds
That Would Effectually Have Prevented His Scattered People From
Finding Each Other Again.
In a word, it was the season of setting
fire to the prairies.
As he advanced he began to perceive great
clouds of smoke at a distance, rising by degrees, and spreading
over the whole face of the country. The atmosphere became dry and
surcharged with murky vapor, parching to the skin, and irritating
to the eyes. When travelling among the hills, they could
scarcely discern objects at the distance of a few paces; indeed,
the least exertion of the vision was painful. There was evidently
some vast conflagration in the direction toward which they were
proceeding; it was as yet at a great distance, and during the day
they could only see the smoke rising in larger and denser
volumes, and rolling forth in an immense canopy. At night the
skies were all glowing with the reflection of unseen fires,
hanging in an immense body of lurid light high above the horizon.
Having reached Gun Creek, an important stream coming from the
left, Captain Bonneville turned up its course, to traverse the
mountain and avoid the great bend of Snake River. Being now out
of the range of the Bannecks, he sent out his people in all
directions to hunt the antelope for present supplies; keeping the
dried meats for places where game might be scarce.
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