From the site where Amarillo is now we had all the Buffalo meat we wanted, and when we struck what is now the city of Trinidad, Colorado, we followed the stream known as and called the "Picket Wire," down to the Arkansas river, and as we were in the heart of the Buffalo country, we were not out of the sight of herds of Buffalo all the way down to that river.
It would be an impossibility to make this generation understand the numbers of herds that roamed the western country. While the Buffalo was the most numerous game of the plains, they were the most strange in their habits. They made the round trip from Texas to the head of the Missouri river in Dakota and back again every year. As soon as they reached one end of their journey, they invariably turned around and began their journey back. Another peculiarity of this animal was that the calves never followed their mother, but always preceded her, and in case of fright, or when she thought them in danger when the herd started on the run, if the calves could not keep up with the others the mother would push her calf forward with her nose.
I think I have seen a mother Buffalo throw her calf at least ten feet in one push, and it would always alight on its feet and not break its run.
When we reached Bent's Fort, Capt. McKee asked Col. Bent how the gold mines were on Cherry creek. The Col. laughed and said, he had not heard from them in about three months, and the last news he had from there were that Cherry creek was deserted, so by that he thought the amount of gold there must be rather limited, and then Capt. McKee told him that he had fitted up a company and had come all the way from Texas to dig gold from Cherry creek.
Col. Bent said, "Well, Capt., there has been another discovery made on what is called Russel's gulch which is a tributary of Clear creek, and I have no doubt but there is gold to be found there."
Capt. McKee asked where Clear creek was.
Col. Bent said, "Ask Will. He can tell you better than I can, for he has trapped all over that country."
I told the Capt. that Clear creek was about ten miles north of Cherry creek on the north side of Platte river and I said, "Capt., if Russel's gulch is up on the head of Clear creek, you could not get there this winter with horses, for at this time in the year the snow is from two to ten feet deep, and it is the coldest country you ever struck, and your Texas boys and yourself too would freeze to death before you got half way to the mines."
The Capt. asked Col. Bent if he had any idea how many miners there were up in the Russel's gulch mines.
He answered, "Yes, I saw them when they started on their prospecting trip, and there are six of them. There were seven, but one came back and went back to his home in Georgia.