The flesh of the big-horn, when fat, is more tender, juicy, and delicious than that of any other animal I know of, but it is a bon bouche which will not grace the tables of our city epicures until a railroad to the Rocky Mountains affords the means of transporting it to a market a thousand miles distant from its haunts.
In its habits the mountain sheep greatly resembles the chamois of Switzerland, and it is hunted in the same manner. The hunter traverses the most inaccessible and broken localities, moving along with great caution, as the least unusual noise causes them to flit away like a phantom, and they will be seen no more. The animal is gregarious, but it is seldom that more than eight or ten are found in a flock. When not grazing they seek the sheltered sides of the mountains, and repose among the rocks.
THE NEEDLES.
Between Cayetano Mountains and the San Juan River—Sierra de la Plata, or Silver Mountains, in the distance.
ITINERARIES.
LIST OF ITINERARIES:
SHOWING THE DISTANCES BETWEEN CAMPING-PLACES, THE CHARACTER OF THE ROADS, AND THE FACILITIES FOR OBTAINING WOOD, WATER, AND GRASS ON THE PRINCIPAL ROUTES BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
| No. | Page | |
| I. | From Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Santa Fé and Albuquerque, New Mexico. By Captain R. B. Marcy, U.S.A. | 257 |
| II. | From Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fé, by the way of the upper ferry of the Kansas River and the Cimarron | 260 |
| III. | Camping-places upon a road discovered and marked out from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Doña Aña and El Paso, New Mexico, in 1849. By Captain R. B. Marcy, U.S.A. | 263 |
| IV. | From Leavenworth City to Great Salt Lake City | 266 |
| V. | From Salt Lake City to Sacramento and Benicia, California | 273 |
| VI. | From Great Salt Lake City to Los Angeles and San Francisco, California | 277 |
| VII. | From Fort Bridger to the "City of Rocks." From Captain Handcock's Journal | 279 |
| VIII. | From Soda Springs to the City of Rocks, known as Hudspeth's Cut-off | 282 |
| IX. | Sublet's Cut-off, from the junction of the Salt Lake and Fort Hall Roads | 282 |
| X. | From Lawson's Meadows, on the Humboldt River, to Fort Reading, via Rogue River Valley, Fort Lane, Oregon Territory, Yreka, and Fort Jones | 283 |
| XI. | From Soda Springs to Fort Wallah Wallah and Oregon City, Oregon, via Fort Hall | 285 |
| XII. | Route for pack trains from John Day's River to Oregon City | 288 |
| XIII. | rom Indianola and Powder-horn to San Antonio, Texas | 288 |
| XIV. | Wagon-road from San Antonio, Texas, to El Paso, N.M., and Fort Yuma, California | 289 |
| XV. | From Fort Yuma to San Diego, California | 292 |
| XVI. | From El Paso, New Mexico, to Fort Yuma, California, via Santa Cruz | 294 |
| XVII. | Peak and "Cherry Creek," N.T., via the Arkansas River | 295 |
| XVIII. | From St. Paul's, Min., to Fort Wallah Wallah, Oregon | 302 |
| XIX. | Lieutenant E. F. Beale's route from Albuquerque to the Colorado River | 307 |
| XX. | Captain Whipple's route from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to San Pedro, California | 308 |
| XXI. | From Fort Yuma to Benicia, California. From Lieutenant R. S. Williamson's Report | 315 |
| XXII. | A new route from Fort Bridger to Camp Floyd, opened by Captain J. H. Simpson, U.S.A., in 1858 | 317 |
| XXIII. | From Fort Thorne, New Mexico, to Fort Yuma, California | 318 |
| XXIV. | Lieutenant Bryan's Route from the Laramie Crossing of the South Platte to Fort Bridger, via Bridger's Pass | 320 |
| XXV. | Wagon-route from Denver City, at the Mouth of Cherry Creek, to Fort Bridger, Utah | 323 |
| XXVI. | From Nebraska City, on the Missouri, to Fort Kearney | 326 |
| XXVII. | From Camp Floyd, Utah, to Fort Union, New Mexico. By Colonel W. W. Loring, U.S.A. | 327 |
| XXVIII. | Wagon-route from Guaymas, Mexico, to Tubac, Arizona. From Captain Stone's Journal | 333 |