James's Account of S. H. Long's Expedition, 1819-1820, part 2

by Edwin James; Stephen H. Long; Thomas Say

Towards evening the air became more clear, and our view of the mountains was more satisfactory, though as yet we could only distinguish their grand outline, imprinted in bold indentations upon the luminous margin of the sky. We soon remarked a particular part of the range divided into three conic summits, each apparently of nearly equal altitude. This we concluded to be the point designated by Pike as the highest peak. Its bearing was taken a short time before we halted for the evening, and found to be south, 73° west.[129] As we were about to encamp, some of the party went in pursuit of a herd of bisons, one of which they killed, and returned to camp a little before sunset.

July 1st. Although the temperature indicated by the thermometer for several days had been about 80°, in the middle of the day, the heat, owing to the cool breezes from the mountain, had been by no means oppressive. On the night of the 30th of June, the mercury fell to 55°, and on the following morning the air was chilly, and a strong breeze was felt before sunrise, from the south-east. We left our camp at a very early hour, and travelled over a tract differing in no respect but its greater barrenness from that passed on the preceding day. We halted to dine at the distance of sixteen and a half miles. Many acres of this plain had not vegetation enough to communicate {178} to the surface the least shade of green; a few dwarfish sunflowers and grasses, which had grown here in the early part of the summer, being now entirely withered and brown. In stagnant pools near the river, we saw the common arrow head, (sagittaria sagittifolia,) the alisma plantago, and the small lemna growing together, as in similar situations in the eastern states.

A striking feature of that part of the plain country, we were now passing, is formed by innumerable ant-heaps, rising from twelve to eighteen inches above the common level of the surface. They occur with some uniformity, at intervals of about twenty feet, and are all similar in size and dimensions. They consist so entirely of small grains of flesh-coloured felspar, that they have, all of them, an uniform reddish aspect, and it is not without careful examination, that any other kind of gravel can be detected in them. The entrance to the interior of each of these little mounds is uniformly on the eastward side, and very rarely occurs beyond the boundaries of N. E. and S. E. It is never at the top, nor on a level with the surface of the soil, but is a little elevated above it. It seems highly probable, that the active little architects thus place the entrance of their edifice on the eastward side, in order to escape the direct influence of the cold mountain winds.

At three o'clock, as we were about to resume our journey, there came on a gentle shower of rain, with wind at east, and low broken clouds. In the afternoon we passed some small ridges of sandstone crossing the river from north to south, but very inconsiderable in point of elevation and extent. We travelled this day twenty-seven miles, directly towards the base of the mountains, but they appeared almost as distant in the evening as they had done in the morning. The bearing of the high peak above mentioned, from our encampment, was south, 75° west.

{179} The ensuing day being Sabbath, was devoted to rest. About our camp, which was in the most fertile spot we could select, in a ride of several miles, there was but a very insufficient supply of grass for our horses. A species of cone flower, (rudbeckia columnaris, N.) was here beginning to expand. The showy R. purpurea, very common on the Missouri, and the lower part of the Platte, does not extend into the desolate regions. The common purslane (portulacca oleracea) is one of the most frequent plants about the base of the Rocky Mountains, particularly in places much frequented as licks by the bisons and other animals.

From this encampment, we had a plain but still distant view of the mountains. No inequality occurs in the surface of the subjacent country on the east of the mountains, so that our view was wholly unobstructed. They stretched from north to south like an immense wall, occupying all that portion of the horizon lying to the north-west, west, and south-west. We could now see the surface of the plain, extending almost unvaried to the base of the first ridge, which rises by an abrupt ascent above the commencement of the snow.

A set of observations for longitude was commenced in the morning, but the weather becoming cloudy, we were prevented from completing them. In the afternoon a storm came on from the north, which continued during the night. Much rain fell, accompanied with thunder and high but variable winds. Between twelve o'clock and sunset, the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer fell nineteen degrees, from 89° to 60°.

3d. Breakfast was despatched, and we had mounted our horses before five o'clock. We were enabled to have our breakfast thus early, as the sentinel on duty during the night, was directed to put the kettles over the fire at three o'clock, all the processes preparatory {180} to boiling having been finished on the preceding evening.

As we approached the mountains, wood became much more abundant along the Platte. We had often heard our guide, in speaking of the country, two or three days' journey from the mountains, mention the Grand Forest, and were a little surprised on arriving at it, to find no more than a narrow but uninterrupted stripe of timber, extending along the immediate banks of the river, never occupying the space of half a mile in width.

For several days the direction of our course in ascending the Platte, had inclined considerably to the south, varying from due west to south, 20° west.