A Few Days Later, The Party Saw A Species Of Animal Which They
Described As "Goats," - Very Fleet, With Short
Pronged horns inclining
backward, and with grayish hair, marked with white on the rump.
This creature, however, was the American
Antelope, then unknown
to science, and first described by Lewis and Clark. While visiting
a strange dome-shaped mountain, "resembling a cupola," and now known
as "the Tower," the explorers found the abode of another animal,
heretofore unknown to them. "About four acres of ground,"
says the journal, "was covered with small holes." The account continues:
"These are the residence of a little animal, called by the French
petit chien (little dog), which sit erect near the mouth, and make
a whistling noise, but, when alarmed, take refuge in their holes.
In order to bring them out we poured into one of the holes five barrels
of water without filling it, but we dislodged and caught the owner.
After digging down another of the holes for six feet, we found,
on running a pole into it, that we had not yet dug half-way to the bottom:
we discovered, however, two frogs in the hole, and near it we killed
a dark rattlesnake, which had swallowed a small prairie dog.
We were also informed, though we never witnessed the fact,
that a sort of lizard and a snake live habitually with these animals.
The petit chien are justly named, as they resemble a small dog
in some particulars, although they have also some points of similarity
to the squirrel. The head resembles the squirrel in every respect,
except that the ear is shorter; the tail like that of the ground squirrel;
the toe nails are long, the fur is fine, and the long hair is gray."
Great confusion has been caused in the minds of readers on account
of there being another burrowing animal, called by Lewis and Clark "the
burrowing squirrel," which resembles the petit chien in some respects.
But the little animal described here is now well known as the prairie-dog, - an
unfortunate and misleading name. It is in no sense a species of dog.
The creature commonly weighs about three pounds, and its note resembles that
of a toy-dog. It is a species of marmot; it subsists on grass roots and other
vegetable products; its flesh is delicate and, when fat, of good flavor.
The writer of these lines, when crossing the great plains, in early times,
found the "prairie-dogs" excellent eating, but difficult to kill;
they are expert at diving into their holes at the slightest signal of danger.
The following days they saw large herds of buffalo, and the copses
of timber appeared to contain elk and deer. "just below Cedar Island,"
adds the journal, "on a hill to the south, is the backbone of a fish,
forty-five feet long, tapering towards the tail, and in a perfect
state of petrifaction, fragments of which were collected
and sent to Washington." This was not a fish, but the fossil
remains of a reptile of one of the earliest geological periods.
Here, too, the party saw immense herds of buffalo, thousands in number,
some of which they killed for their meat and skins.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 16 of 201
Words from 8027 to 8566
of 110166
