The
Camp Had Apparently Been Abandoned About A Month.
In the centre was a singular lodge one hundred and fifty feet in
circumference, supported by the trunks of twenty trees, about
twelve inches in diameter and forty-four feet long.
Across these
were laid branches of pine and willow trees, so as to yield a
tolerable shade. At the west end, immediately opposite to the
door, three bodies lay interred with their feet towards the east.
At the head of each was a branch of red cedar firmly planted in
the ground. At the foot was a large buffalo's skull, painted
black. Savage ornaments were suspended in various parts of the
edifice, and a great number of children's moccasins. From the
magnitude of this building, and the time and labor that must have
been expended in erecting it, the bodies which it contained were
probably those of noted warriors and hunters.
The next day, October 17th, they passed two large tributary
streams of the Spanish River. They took their rise in the Wind
River Mountains, which ranged along to the east, stupendously
high and rugged, composed of vast masses of black rock, almost
destitute of wood, and covered in many places with snow. This day
they saw a few buffalo bulls, and some antelopes, but could not
kill any; and their stock of provisions began to grow scanty as
well as poor.
On the 18th, after crossing a mountain ridge, and traversing a
plain, they waded one of the branches of Spanish River, and on
ascending its bank, met with about a hundred and thirty Snake
Indians.
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