The Pacific tourist:

91
saloon and several dwellings, in the vicinity.
There is a good wagon road from this place to
Fort Fetterman, distance ninety miles, and it is
by far the nearest route to the gold fields in the
Black Hills of Dakota, for passengers and miners
from the West. The Indians were disinclined to
leave this region and even now hardly know how
to give it up. In the summer of 1875, they came
here and stole a herd of between three and four
hundred horses that were grazing on Rock Creek.
Some of these horses have been seen and recognized at the agencies of Red Cloud a nd Spotted
Tail; and when demand was made for them, the
owners were quietly told by t he Indian agents to
make out their clai ms and present them to the
proper authorities to be paid. But the cases of
their payment are like angels' visits, few and far
between. Some of the horses stolen belonged to
Judge Kelly, member of Congress, from Pennsylvania. Medicine Bow is in the midst of a rough,
broken country, over which millions of antelope
and jack rabbits roam at pleasure. When the
road was built here immense quantities of ties
and wood were cut in the:xnountains south, and
delivered at this place.
Curiosities of Indian Life and Character.-The entire country, from North Platte
over as far as the western border of Laramie
Plains, has been for years the roving ground of
the Indians, of whom we could tell many interesting facts respecting their life and the curious
interviews the overland scouts, trappers, etc.,
have had with them. To a man, every scout will
unite in denunciation of their treachery. Jim
Baker,-an old Rocky Mountain trapper,-once
told, in his characteristic manner the following,
to General Marcy:
" They are the most onsartainest varmints in
all creation, and I reckon thar not mor'n half
human; for you never seed a human, arter you'd
fed and treated him to the best fixins in your
lodge, just turn round and steal all your horses,
or anything he could lay his hand on.
" No, not adzackly! he would feel kinder grateful, and ask you to spread a blanket in his lodge
if ever you passed that way. But the Indian,
he don't care shucks for you, and is ready to do
you a heap of mischief as soon as he quits your
feed. No, Cap'," he continued, " it's not the
right way to give'um presents to buy peace; but
ef I was governor of these yeer United States,
I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd invite'um all to a
big feast, and make believe I wanted to have a
big talk, and as soon as I got'um all together, I'd
pitch in and scalp half of'um, and then t'other
half would be mighty glad to make a peace that
would stick. That's the way I'd make a treaty
with the dog-ond, red-bellied varmints; and, as
sure as you're born, Cap., that's the only way.
" It ain' no use to talk about honor with them,
Cap.; they hain't got no such thing in'um;* and
they won't show fair fight, any way you can fix
road here passes. One peculiarity of this lake
is that it is ne ar Rock C reek- sepa rat ed from it
by a ridg e of hills esti mated at 200 feet high,wit h no visib l e outlet. The station is 640.2
miles from Oma ha, and 6,680 feet above the
sea. The lak e has been estimated to be 200
f eet abov he the surface of Rock Creek, from
w hich it is separated as above stated. It is
fed by warm sp r ings, which also supply the
water tank of the company at the station. In a
cold day the steam from these springs can be
seen at some distance. It is also a great resort
for ducks, and sportsmen can ob tai in fh oine shooting
h er e in the prop er season. If lizards are fish
with legs, then we have fish with legs abounding
in th is l ake and v icinity. Th ese animals are from
6 to 18 inches in length, with a h ead a good deal
like that of a frog, and tuft o f o a n or tassels where the
gills would be on a fish. T hey have four legs and
craw l a round to a c ertain extent on the land.
Ther e a re two kinds of these lizards, one differing from the othe r in size and color more than
in shaepe, a nd either kind are devoured by the
ducks when they can be c aught. The lake is
about one mile wide in the widest place, and two
and a half miles long.
Valltey of the Chugwater.-,The Chugwater Valley is abou t 100 m i les long. It has
bee n for many y ears a favorite locality for winterierg stock, not only on account of the excellence of
t he grass and water, but als o from the fact that
the climat e is mild throug hou t the wi nter. Cattl e and horses thrive well all winter without hay
or s helter. T he broad valle y is.protected from
strong cold w ind s by h igh walls or bluffs. The
soil every w here is fertile, and wherever the surface can be irrigated, good crops of all kinds of
cereals and hardy vegetables can be rais ed w ithout difficulty.
In th is v alley and nea r the source of the
Chugwater, are thousan dst of tons of iron o re,
i ndicating de posits of v a st ex tent and richness, which can be made easily accessible whenever desirable to construct a railroad to Montana.
Medicine Bow-is 647.3 miles from Omaha;
elevation, 6,550 f e et. The river, from which the
stati on is named, was cross ed a short distance
before we reached the station. It rises directly
south, in the Medicine Bow Mountains, and runs
nearly north to the place where it is crossed by
the railroad, after which it turns toward the
west and unites with the North Platte, below
Fort Steele.
There is a roundhouse of five stalls, in which
one or more engines are kept, to assist trains
up and down the steep grades between here
and Carbon. It is also a point from which
a large quantity of military supplies for Fort
Fetterman and other posts are distributed.
The government has a freight depot here.
There are one or two stores, with the inevitable
,J
PIKIN Pacific TOURIST.
I
II