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

by Edwin James; Stephen H. Long; Thomas Say

The prairie-dog villages we had observed to become more frequent and more extensive as we approached the mountains; and we had now constant opportunities of contrasting the stupendous elevations of the Andes with the humble mounds cast up by this interesting little animal. We observed in the {183} numerous burrows an appearance of greater antiquity than in those more remote from the mountains. Many of the mounds occupy an extent of several yards in diameter, though of but inconsiderable elevation, and with the exception of the present entrance, overgrown with a scanty herbage, which always marks the area of the prairie-dog villages. Indeed we have observed several large villages, with scarce a trace of vegetation about them. The food of the marmot consisting of grasses and herbaceous plants, it is not perhaps easy to assign a reason for the preference which, in selecting the site of his habitation, he always shows for the most barren places, unless it be that he may enjoy an unobstructed view of the surrounding country, in order to be seasonably warned of the approach of wolves, or other enemies.

Rattle-snakes of a particular species[133] are sometimes seen in these villages. They are found between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, and appear to prefer an unproductive soil, where their sluggish gait may not be retarded by the opposing obstacles of grass and weeds. Whilst exploring Bowyer creek of the Missouri, in the spring of 1820, our party met with six or eight of them during one day's march on the prairie; and on our subsequent journey to the Rocky Mountains, we several times encountered equal, or even greater numbers, in the same space of time. This is the species of serpent which travellers have observed to frequent the villages of the prairie dogs, and to which they have attributed the unnatural habit of voluntary domiciliation with that interesting animal. It is true that the tergeminus, like many other serpents, will secure a refuge from danger in any hole of the earth, rock, or fallen tree that may present itself, regardless of the rightful occupant; but we witnessed no facts which could be received as a proof that it was an acceptable inmate of the dwelling of the arctomys.

{184} From the disparity in the number of plates and scales, and from the greater size of the vertebral spots in this species than in the C. miliaris, we have been induced to consider this as a distinct species. Specimens are in the Philadelphia museum.

On the 5th of July we left our camp at an early hour, and ascended the Platte about ten miles. Here the party encamped for the day;[134] and Mr. Peale and Dr. James, with two riflemen, went out for an excursion on foot, intending to ascend the Cannon-ball creek to the mountains, which appeared to be about five miles distant.

This creek is rapid and clear, flowing over a bed paved with rounded masses of granite and gneiss. It is from a supposed resemblance of these masses to cannon balls that the creek has received its name from the French hunters. The channel is sunk from fifty to one hundred feet below the common level of the plain.

This plain consists of a bed of coarse pebbles, gravel, and sand; and its surface is thinly covered with prickly pears, and a scanty growth of starved and rigid grasses. Among these the hygrometric stipa, (s. juncea, s. barbata,) is extremely troublesome, its barbed and pointed seeds adhering and penetrating, like the quills of the porcupine, into every part of the dress with which they come in contact. The long and rigid awn is contorted or straight, in proportion to the humidity or dryness of the atmosphere; indicating the changes in this respect with the precision of the nicest hygrometer.

The detached party extended their walk about eight miles without finding that they had very considerably diminished the apparent distance to the base of the mountain. They had unluckily forgotten to make any provision for dinner, and now found themselves fatigued and hungry at the distance of eight miles from the encampment of the main body and so far from the mountains, that it was evidently {185} impossible they should reach them and return on the same day. It was therefore determined to relinquish the attempt, and Mr. Peale was fortunate enough to kill a couple of curlews, which were roasted and eaten without loss of time.

Near the place of this halt they observed some small sandstone ridges similar to those on the Platte below, and collected, among other plants, the species of currant (ribes aureum?) so often mentioned by Lewis and Clarke, the fruit of which formed an important article of the subsistence of their party while crossing the Rocky Mountains.[135]

They also saw about the shelvings of the sandstone rocks, which formed for some distance the banks of the stream, innumerable nests of the cliff swallows, similar to those seen on the Missouri. In returning to the camp by a different route, they were much annoyed by the prickly pears, covering the ground so closely, that their feet were frequently wounded by the thorns, against which their mockasins presented but a very inadequate protection.

Having killed a young antelope, they recrossed the Platte, which was here about three feet deep, and clear, and rapid, and arrived at camp at sun-set.