Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: Vol. 1, Pt. 2

FROM HEADWATERS OF THE MISSOURI TO DALLES OF THE COLUMBIA.
as this is the most prevailing wind in the winter, the fact may account, in some measure, for the
small amount of snow that falls, and its short duration.
January 8.-Travelled nine miles, and camped on a small creek. The ground is mostly bare,
and travelling very laborious. Saw plenty of deer, but were unable to kill any; also saw a herd
of buffalo about five miles to the south of our course. The wind continues from the southwest,
and the weather is quite warm for the season.
January 9.-The weather continues warm and the ground bare, and the men have been obliged
to cordelle on their trains all day. After making about ten miles, we camped in a small ravine a
little after sunset, where we were able to collect enough dry willow to make a tolerablecampfire. This afternoon a high ridge was passed, which afforded a full view of the main chain of
the Rocky mountains. Their sides were white with snow, and their tops were enveloped with a
dense wreath of clouds, from which the snow was falling heavily.
A large gray wolf has been following close upon our trail all day; he probably concludes, from
our rate of travel, that we are about giving out, and wishes to be in at the death. A grizzly bear
also followed us some distance; but he finally gave up the pursuit, unwilling to trouble hishead
about such small game.
The morning of the 10th was clear and cool. The clouds had risen from the lofty peaks of
the mountains, and their broad sides stood out in blue and white, as thick forests of pine alternated with barren spaces of snow.
We left camp about sunrise, and labored on, as on yesterday, as far as Dearborn river; upon
which we camped, in a narrow, sheltered bottom of cottonwood.
This seems to be the commencement of snow in earnest; and right glad we are to find it, for
we are heartily tired of bare-ground sleighing. Game is quite plenty here, but very wild. While
at breakfast this morning, several small prairie wolves came barking around our camp. There
is a marked distinction in size between this animal and the ordinary wolf of the prairie.
The "medicine" wolf, as the Indians call it, is not much larger than a large cat, and has
received the name it bears from the general superstition among the Indians, and indeed among
some trappers, that its presence, and particularly its barking about camp, bodes some great misfobrtune-the near approach of an enemy, or other dire calamity. Whether there are any such
fatal accidents in store for us remains to be seen.
This evening the wind continues from the southwest, and the general appearance of the sky is
stormy.
Jarnuary 11.-This morning we commenced our march early, as usual. A slight breeze was
blowing firom the west, and a little snow falling; but, as we approached the mountains, the wind
increased to a gale, and the snow fell fast and cutting. It was with difficulty, at times, that we
could keep our feet, much less make any progress.
About noon we entered the defile or pass; it is walled in on both sides by high mountains,
whose faces are more or less wooded with a diminutive growth of pitch-pine. At its bottom runs
a small streanm, which takes its rise immediately at the foot of the dividing ridge which separates
the headwaters of the Missouri from those of the Columbia, and flows into the Dearborn river.
It would appear that the prevailing high winds which blow through this pass are from the west;
for of the many thousand of dead pines that had been prostrated by them, not one did I see that
was broken in any other direction than towards the east.
After having travelled about fourteen miles, we camped in a sheltered thicket of pines, near the
foot of the dividing ridge. We were wet and cold, for since about 9 o'clock this morning we had
.been travelling in a blinding storm of damp snow, every flake of which imbedded itself in the
furz of our blanket-coats, and, melting, wet us to the skin. But, in a pine growth, a few moments
suffices a "voyageur" to make a fire. Two of my men were of this class, and therefore at home
in the woods.
The method they usually adopt is, to shave off some of the outside bark of a green pitch-pine,
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