canic remains, are scattered in all directions, as far as the Upper Piney Fork; and there petrified trees are met With at every step. Toward evening we encamped at the base of a mountain, after advancing about twenty-five miles, and
thought ourselves favored in finding a pool of water. The next twenty-four miles were taken in the direction of Sandy river, through undulating plains and mountainous hills.
On the 27th of August we reached Powder river, one of the principal tributaries of the Yellowstone. Our wagoners will not soon forget the difficulty of conducting their teams through this vast route, for it was a very miserable, elevated, sterile plain, covered with wormwood and intersected with countless ravines, and they vowed they would never be caught driving a wagon there again.
The valley of Powder river, in the neighborhood of the Gourd [Pumpkin] Buttes, which are in sight, is three or four miles wide. Although the soil was light, the verdure
was fine and the grazing abundant. The part where I crossed the valley is well wooded, and they told me that wood, especially cottonwood and fruit trees, is abundant all along the river. This valley forms a beautiful contrast with the high plains of these parts, which are the very picture of aridity and desolation, with naught but weeds, rocks and deep ravines.
Here we happened to meet with three young Indians of the Crow tribe. They had been on the lookout for a Sioux camp, intending to steal horses, but had not succeeded. These young men advised us to pursue the vale of a little river which they pointed out to us, assuring us that by taking that direction we should soon arrive at Fort Lararnie. I was surprised at this counsel, for the course of the valley was southwest;-however, we followed the route indicated by
the Crows. This proved the most rugged and difficult part of our journey, hence we styled it " the valley of a thousand miseries." A name could not have been better chosen. Imagine a river with perpendicular banks, winding in a serpentine course through a narrow valley, so that in a distance