Farnham's Travels in the Great Western Prairies, etc., May 21-October 16, 1839, part 1

109

Tripe de roche, for which see our volume ii, p. 156, note 70. – Ed.

110

Consult W. J. Hoffman, "The Midewiwin or Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibwa," in Bureau of Ethnology Report, 1885-86, pp. 143-300. – Ed.

111

For the Ute (Eutaws) see De Smet's Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 165, note 35. The Cheyenne are noted in our volume v, p. 140, note 88. – Ed.

112

Bent's Fort, on the South Platte, is usually spoken of as St. Vrain's, being in charge of one of the brothers by that name, who were partners of the Bents. It was situated on the right bank of the river near the easterly bend of the stream, about opposite the mouth of St. Vrain's Creek, and some seventeen miles east of Longs Peak. The site is still a landmark, being near the present Platteville, Weld County. Frémont visited this fort on his journeys of 1842 and 1843, and was hospitably entertained. Shortess, who went with what Farnham calls the "mutineers," says they were detained six weeks at Fort St. Vrain, awaiting a party bound for Green River. At this fort Dr. F. Adolph Wislizenus found them September 3, 1839, on his return journey from the mountains; see his Ein Ausflug nach den Felsen-Gebirgen (St. Louis, 1840), a somewhat rare but interesting narrative of his journey, written in German. He speaks of the fort as Penn's (Bents) and Savory's, and found two other rival posts in the vicinity. This post was also known as Fort George. – Ed.

113

This was a temporary fort, being maintained but a few years. Wislizenus speaks of it as being four miles above St. Vrain's, and occupied by French-Canadian and Mexican trappers. Farnham's observation of the irrigable capacity of this region was correct. Storage reservoirs now hold the water, and the valley is especially adapted to fruit raising. – Ed.

114

Farnham intends the Huerfano, now known as Wet Mountains, a range that leaves the great central system south of Pike's Peak and trends south-eastwardly to Huerfano River. – Ed.

115

By James's Peak Farnham intends the present Pike's Peak; see ante, p. 111, note 50. What he here calls Pike's was one of the Spanish Peaks, which would be in a south-western direction from his camping ground. In recent years the name James Peak has been transferred to a mountain not far from Central City, on the borders of Gilpin, Clear Creek, and Grand counties Colorado. – Ed.

116

For Fountain Creek (Fontaine qui bouit), which enters the Arkansas at the present city of Pueblo, see our volume xvi, p. 25, note 10. It derives its name from the present Manitou Springs at the eastern base of Pike's Peak. – Ed.

117

For this stream (Huerfano) see our volume xvi, p. 53, note 35. Its two branches are the Cuchara, which rises near the Spanish Peaks, and the main Huerfano. – Ed.

118

The names of these two creeks appear to have been local titles applied by Farnham's guide, and named in honor of roving trappers. Kelly's was probably Turkey Creek, flowing into the Arkansas from the north, in north-west Pueblo County; Oakley's would therefore be the present Beaver Creek, in eastern Fremont County – see our volume xvi, p. 44, note 27, for another appellation of this stream. – Ed.

119

From Farnham's location of this stream it would seem to be Field Creek, down which a branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway comes to join the main line at Florence – Ed.

120

The first range is the Wet Mountains, for which see ante, p. 183, note 110. The extensive tract of western mountains is the Sangre de Cristo range. – Ed.

121

For Farnham's "Pike's Peak" see ante, p. 184, note 111. Pike did not approach these elevations within many miles. – Ed.

122

Farnham was at the entrance of the Grand Cañon (or Royal Gorge) of the Arkansas – a chasm much of which was formerly impassable even to travellers on foot; but it is now threaded by the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, over a roadbed blasted and hewn from the solid rock, at one narrow point the track being carried on steel rafters bridging the chasm. – Ed.

123

Probably Oil Creek, by which Pike made his way over to South Park; see our volume xvi, p. 34, note 14. – Ed.

124

See Coues's description of the two passes, in Pike's Expeditions, p. 465, note 7. The westernmost goes by way of West Oil or Ten Mile Creek; the eastern, nearly straight north over the divide between the waters of the Arkansas and the Platte, by what is known as Twin Creek Pass. – Ed.

125

The divide at this point has an altitude above sea level of over nine thousand feet. – Ed.

126

The upper waters of Twin Creek, which is an eastern affluent of the South Platte. – Ed.

127

Bayou Salade, now known as South Park, received its earlier name from the salt springs and a slough found therein, which attracted buffalo and other game. It is a high valley forty miles long by thirty wide, with undulating, park-like surface, and an area of 1,200,000 acres, at an elevation of from 8,000 to 10,000 feet. It was well known to early hunters for whom it remained a game paradise as late as 1865. Pike explored its southern portion in 1806-07. Frémont crossed it on his return in 1844, and witnessed an Indian battle there. Gold was discovered on its borders in the early days of the Colorado mining excitement. To-day it is traversed by several railways and is much frequented by tourists. See our volume xv, p. 292, note 141. – Ed.

128

For an engraving of Platte Cañon see our volume xv, p. 283. It is now traversed by the Denver, Leadville, and Gunnison Railway. – Ed.

129

Farnham's topographical descriptions lack data for determining the exact places en route; but this northern branch was probably Crooked Trail Creek, up which the Denver, Leadville, and Gunnison (South Park) railway line proceeds to Breckenridge or Boreas Pass. The travellers were here not far from the foothills of Mount Lincoln. – Ed.

130

This information with regard to tribal affinities is incorrect – the Ute and Comanche are of Shoshonean stock, while the Cheyenne are an outlying branch of the Algonquian family. See our volume v, p. 140, note 88. – Ed.

131

This is the divide known as Boreas (or Breckenridge) Pass, which has an over-sea elevation of 11,470 feet at the summit; it is now traversed by the railway mentioned in note 125, ante. – Ed.

132

This was the upper stretch of Blue River. Rising in the continental divide, it flows in three branches which unite at Dillon, Summit County, thence continuing in a north-westerly course, into Grand River, on the south-western border of Middle Park. – Ed.

133

The present Holy Cross Mountain is a high peak (14,176 feet) north-west of Leadville and forming the end of the great Sawatch range. Its cross is formed by longitudinal and transverse chasms generally filled with snow. The mountain described by Farnham was on the eastern slopes of the Blue range, in Summit County. – Ed.

134

Farnham was travelling through one of the richest mineral districts in Colorado. Gold was discovered on the upper tributaries of the Blue – the Snake, Swan, and Ten Mile creeks – as early as 1859. Silver and carbonates were later found in the vicinity of Breckenridge. The entire region is rich in minerals, and there is also considerable arable land in Blue River valley. – Ed.

135

These were the Williams River Mountains that bound Blue River valley on the north-east, separating it from Williams Fork, a parallel tributary of Grand River. – Ed.

136

"Old Park" is that now known as Middle Park – a broad valley fifty by seventy miles, the source of Grand River, and now embraced in Grand County, Colorado. Its name "Old Park" is said to have arisen from the fact that after being persistently worked by hunters the game was driven into North Park, which was then termed "New Park," whereupon Middle became "Old Park." See Chittenden, Fur-Trade, ii, p. 750. – Ed.

137

See Coues's edition of Pike's Expeditions, pp. 430, 431. – Ed.

138

For the South Pass, or "Great Gap," see Wyeth's Oregon, in our volume xxi, p. 58, note 37. Wind River Mountains are noted in Townsend's Narrative in the same volume, p. 184, note 35. – Ed.

139

Grand River, the eastern tributary of the Colorado, rises in two branches in Middle Park, flows west, and thence on a long, south-westward (not north-west) course nearly three hundred and fifty miles until it unites with the Green, in south-eastern Utah, to form the Colorado. – Ed.

140

From the place where it leaves Middle Park, to its union with the Gunnison, Grand River is practically a series of cañons. What is locally known as Grand River Cañon is a stretch about sixteen miles in length, above Glenwood Springs, through which runs the Denver and Rio Grande Railway; it is thought by many to surpass in majesty the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas. – Ed.

141

This should be three hundred miles, not thirty. For the great Cañon of the Colorado, see Pattie's Narrative in our volume xviii, p. 137, note 67, and the references therein cited. – Ed.

142

There is apparently no other record of this disaster unless it may be an imperfect reminiscence of the explorations of the friar Francisco Garcés, who was murdered (1781) at his mission, not lost on the river. See Elliott Coues, On the Trail of a Spanish Pioneer (New York, 1900). – Ed.

143

In 1869, Major J. W. Powell found some wreckage in Lodore Cañon, on Green River, which Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, Romance of the Colorado River (New York, 1902), pp. 112, 131, thinks may have belonged to the party of trappers whose adventures are cited by Farnham. – Ed.

144

It is difficult to know what stream Farnham intends by the "great north fork" of the Grand, which has almost no northern tributaries of any size. Probably the course followed was up Muddy River, a considerable stream rising in the divide between North and Middle Parks and for about forty miles flowing south into the Grand, nearly opposite the mouth of Blue River. – Ed.

145

This must be some pass in Park range, which here forms the watershed between the Grand and Green systems. – Ed.

146

North (or New) Park was frequently called by trappers the Bull Pen. It is the source of the North Platte, which rises therein in many branches, uniting near the north or upper end of the park. – Ed.

147

Probably this is the plateau now known as Egeria Park, at the upper waters of Little Bear (or Yampah) River. – Ed.

148

Little Bear (more frequently known as Yampah) River rises in the south-eastern corner of Routt County, flows in a northerly direction for thirty miles, then bends abruptly westward, and for a hundred miles drains the north-western corner of Colorado; it enters Green River just below Lodore Cañon, on the boundary between Colorado and Utah. – Ed.

149

The Three Tetons were sometimes spoken of as Pilot Knobs or Buttes. See Townsend's Narrative in our volume xxi, p. 209, note 49. – Ed.

150

The forks of the Little Bear are the junction of Elk Head Creek with the former, not far from the modern town of Craig. The more usual route to Brown's Hole came over the South Fork of the North Platte, which heads with Elk Head Creek. – Ed.

151

This is the first chapter of volume ii of Farnham's Travels. – Ed.

152

Between Fortification and Lay creeks, the Yampah makes a southern bend for about twenty-five miles. – Ed.

153

Little Snake is the largest affluent of the Yampah. Rising in Elk Head Mountains, it flows west and south-west, debouching at a small plain known as Lily's Park – Ed.

154

For the Paiute see our volume xviii, p. 140, note 70. Concerning the Sanpitch (not Land Pitch), consult De Smet's Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 166, note 37. – Ed.

155

Brown's Hole, now known as Brown's Park, is in the north-western corner of Colorado, on Green River. It is thought to have been named for an early trapper. The valley, which is about thirty miles long by five or six in width, is formed by an expansion of the cañon walls of the river, so that all about it cliffs rise to a great height. The only entrance is a rocky chasm at the east, about sixty yards wide. The valley is so sheltered that it possesses an unusual climate, with seldom snow enough to cover the pasturage; it was, therefore, a favorite wintering ground for trappers and hunters. – Ed.

156

Fort David Crockett was not long maintained; erected before Farnham's visit, it was a ruin when Frémont passed here in 1844. Wislizenus, who arrived a few days after Farnham, declares it the poorest building seen on his travels, and that the distance from any well-worn route of travel and the lack of game on the neighboring hills had given it the name of Fort Misery. It was owned jointly by Thomson, Craig, and St. Clair. – Ed.

157

Farnham refers here to tribes of the Yuman stock; see our volume xviii, p. 131, note 65. The Yuma proper are large physically, and finely proportioned. A recent writer declares that their men are nearly all over six feet in height – see Eugene J. Trippel, "Yuma Indians," in Overland Monthly, xiii, xiv. They are an agricultural people and depend largely upon the mesquite harvest, which Farnham refers to as black beans. The Yuma were made known to the Spaniards by the reports of the Franciscan padre, Francisco Garcés, who in 1771 visited them from his mission on the Gila. They received him with joy, and begged for his return; he revisited them in 1774. Shortly after this a Yuman chief called Palma was conveyed to Mexico. Awed by what he saw, he consented to baptism, and requested a mission in his own land. But it was not until 1779 that the foundation of a mission was laid, and in the following year two small colonies were begun – one on the site of Fort Yuma, and the other eight miles lower down. The natives, however, found their new neighbors troublesome and exacting, and rising in revolt July 17, 1781, with clubs massacred almost the entire garrison, including four missionary padres; see Coues, Francisco Garcés, i, pp. 10-24. Hence the appellation, "Club Indians." In 1857 the Yuma suffered a severe defeat from their neighbors, the Pima and Maricopa, wherein over a third of their warriors perished. They have generally been on friendly terms with the United States government, which has recently arranged a system of irrigation for their lands. About fifty-six Yuma still live on their reservation, and have a reputation for industry beyond that of most tribesmen; see U. S. Indian Commissioner's Report, 1904, pp. 158-161. – Ed.

158

For particulars of this meeting, which had been eagerly desired by the explorers, consult Thwaites, Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, ii, pp. 329-360. – Ed.

159

For a brief sketch of the Crow Indians, see Bradbury's Travels, in our volume v, p. 226, note 121. – Ed.

160

The Blackfeet are noted in Bradbury's Travels, our volume v, p. 225, note 120. A detailed description is to be found in Maximilian's Travels, our volume xxiii, pp. 95-122. The year of the small-pox scourge was 1837 (not 1828), and it was a Mandan (not a Blackfoot) chief who stole the infected blanket. However, the disease reached the Blackfeet by the same steamer that carried it to the Mandan. See our volume xxii, p. 36, note 13. – Ed.

161

A brief note on the Arapaho is in our volume v, p. 225, note 120. The significance of the tribal name is uncertain, but is supposed to mean "he who buys or trades." The Caddo and Comanche had epithets for this tribe, that signified "dog-eaters." – Ed.

162

This is incorrect, the Shoshonean differing widely from the Algonquian language stock. On the Arapaho language, consult James Mooney, "Ghost Dance Religion," in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology Report, 1892-93, p. 1012. – Ed.

163

With this fanciful tradition, compare that of Lewis in Original Journals, ii, pp. 329-351. – Ed.

164

This was the party of which Dr. Wislizenus of St. Louis was a member (see ante, p. 173, note 108). They left the frontier in a caravan of twenty-seven persons, of whom nine were employés of Chouteau's fur company, and the others heterogeneous travellers and immigrants. Wislizenus had intended to go on to Oregon and then to California; but the divisions in the party, and the lateness of the season, determined him to return from Fort Hall. Two of his companions joined him, and they engaged Richardson, who had taken the outward journey in the capacity of hunter, to guide them back, purposing to take the southerly route on the return. Dr. Wislizenus had undertaken this journey for the sake of his health, as well as in order to see the marvels of the Western mountains. Richardson was chief hunter for Wyeth's party in 1833. Townsend well describes him in his Narrative, in our volume xxi, pp. 152-155; see also pp 171, 211, 255, 256, 264. – Ed.

165

John S. Griffin (not Griffith) was a native (1807) of Castleton, Vermont, educated in New England, but taking a theological course at Oberlin, where he was graduated in 1838. He prepared to go out to the Indians as an independent missionary, and was dispatched by the Congregational church in Litchfield, Connecticut. Having engaged Asahel Munger, a skilled mechanic, to accompany him, he stopped in St. Louis long enough to marry, and left the frontier the last of April, 1839. At Fort Hall, Griffin, because of some differences, left Munger and pushed on to Lapwai, where he spent the winter, Munger having meanwhile joined Dr. Whitman who gladly employed him at his mission for a year and a half. In the spring of 1840 Griffin attempted a mission to the Shoshoni; but becoming discouraged, pressed on to Fort Vancouver, where he spent the second winter, establishing in 1841 a settlement at Tualatin Plains, near the present Hillsboro. He was active in establishing the provisional government, being suggested as candidate for governor, but opposed on account of his profession. Griffin was the editor of the first Oregon magazine, Oregon American and Evangelical Unionist, eight numbers of which were published (1848-49). He established a Congregational church, the first in Washington County, and lived in Oregon until his death in February, 1899. Munger became deranged, and as a religious test cast himself into fire, dying from his injuries, near Salem, Oregon. – Ed.

166

Sometimes spoken of as the bilberry, but more commonly as the service berry, the fruit of the shad-bush (Amelanchier canadensis). – Ed.

167

What is now known as the Red Cañon, from the color of its sand-stone walls. See Dellenbaugh, Romance of the Colorado River, p. 64. – Ed.

168

Farnham had now entered what is known as the Green River valley, that portion of the river above the gorges (or cañons) where the banks are comparatively level. He here joined the Oregon Trail from the east, which came by way of the Sweetwater River and South Pass; see Townsend's Narrative, in our volume xxi, pp. 183-195. This valley was, in 1833-34 and later, the site of several famous rendezvous of fur-traders. See Irving, Rocky Mountains, chapter xx. – Ed.

169

For Ham's Fork, which is an affluent of Black Fork of Green, see Townsend's Narrative in our volume xxi, p. 197, note 43. – Ed.

170

For Long's Peak see our volume xv, p. 271, note 126. It must have been some nearer peak, however, which Farnham mistook for Long's; the latter was over a hundred and fifty miles distant. – Ed.

171

The Oregon Short Line follows this route, up Ham's Fork. – Ed.

172

For the American Fur Company see Maximilian's Travels in our volume xxii, p. 232, note 159. – Ed.

173

Known as Bear River Divide, in Unita County, south-west Wyoming. – Ed.

174

For a description see our volume xxi, p. 199, note 44. – Ed.

175

Col. Joseph L. Meek (1810-75) was one of the most picturesque of the "mountain men" who settled in Oregon. An extended account of his adventures was published by Frances Fuller Victor, under the title River of the West (Hartford, 1870). Born in Washington County, Virginia, he left home while still a boy, and in 1829 joined Sublette's caravan for the mountain trade. During eleven years he experienced adventures similar to those of other hunters and trappers, in one of which he killed a grizzly bear. The Englishman Stuart (see our volume xxi, p. 197, note 42), coming up with his artist Miller, had a sketch made of the beast which was afterwards elaborated into a picture, and later a wax model for the St. Louis Museum (River of the West, pp. 220-223). Meek went out to Oregon in 1840, settling on Tualatin Plains, where he was active in establishing the provisional government, of which he was first sheriff. After the Whitman massacre of 1847 he was the accredited messenger to Washington, D. C., to obtain consideration for the condition of Oregon. His visit to the East was replete with amusing adventures. Returning as United States marshal, he acted as guide to the party sent to escort to his post the first American governor of Oregon, General Joseph Lane. Meek was prominent in Oregon throughout his later life, being generally known as "Uncle Joe," and he aided in founding the Pioneer Association. See Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1875. His meeting with Farnham is mentioned by Frances Fuller Victor in River of the West, p. 256. For a portrait of Meek, see the frontispiece to that volume, also Lyman, History of Oregon, iii, p. 66. – Ed.

176

Irrigation has made considerable progress in Bear River valley, chiefly under the auspices of the settlers of that region. – Ed.

177

Great Salt Lake has one long promontory and several islands. By his use of the term "territory of the States," Farnham assumes that Bear valley and a portion of Great Salt Lake lie north of the 42nd parallel of latitude, then the boundary with Mexico; see our volume xix, p. 217, note 52. Actually, only a portion of Bear River and none of Great Salt Lake are north of that latitude. – Ed.

178

See a previous description of this region in Townsend's Narrative, our volume xxi, p. 200. See also Frémont's description, Senate Docs., 28 Cong., 2 sess., 174, pp. 135-138. – Ed.

179

See De Smet's description of this defile in our volume xxvii, p. 248. – Ed.

180

See Townsend's Narrative in our volume xxi, p. 209, note 49; also p. 249, note 124, of De Smet's Letters in our volume xxvii. – Ed.

181

See account of founding of Fort Hall in Townsend's Narrative, our volume xxi, pp. 210, 211, with accompanying note. – Ed.

182

This may have been Courtney M. Walker, who came out with the Lees in 1834. He had charge of much of Wyeth's business, and may have been employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. Wislizenus and Robert Shortess, both of whom were at Fort Hall in the same year, before and after Farnham, speaks of Francis Ermatinger as factor in charge, although Wislizenus also mentions Walker. – Ed.