Page:Route Across the Rocky Mountains with a Description of Oregon and California.djvu/158



A small Creek, Another, Another, Another, Another, Another, Little Blue, To the point where the road leaves Little Blue, The Great Platte, The Forks, Crossing of South Fork, To the North Fork, 9 15 8 14 10 7 5 51 25 99 71 15 206 221 229 243 253 260 265 316 341 440 511 526 Grass abundant. Wood. do do do do do do do do do do The small streams intermediate between Battle Creek and the Little Blue River, in the Autumn, frequently cease to flow; but in the Spring they generally afford a sufficient quantity of water, wood, and grass, for camps. Where the trail follows Little Blue River, there is found, all along, an abundance of wood and grass. Thus far the road passes through a country, much the largest portion of which is fertile; affording every where, grass sufficient to supply the animals of the largest Emigration; neither—as will be seen by the foregoing notes—will water or wood be wanting. Thus far, there will be no difficulty on account of the uneveness of the surface of the country, but the rains which are here frequent, during that portion of the year in which emigrants will be passing through it, will generally occasion delay; will sometimes render the streams impassable for several days, and where large companies are traveling together, or several smaller ones near each other, the road, in such instances, will of course, become muddy. Water is not found in this distance, and the trail, after leaving Little Blue, bears very much to the North until it strikes the Platte—sometimes called the Nebraska. From the point where the road strikes the river to the union of the North and South branches, there is, in most places a sufficiency of grass on the bottom land, through which the trail passes, seldom leaving the stream more than two or three miles. Wood is seldom found here, though in its absence, a substitute can be obtained which the emigrant will soon become acquainted with. There is wood on some of the islands in the river. At the Forks there is a very large timbered island, and a few trees along on the main shore. The trail, in this distance, follows near the South bank of the South Fork. On this branch there is not so much grass as there is on the main river, but what there is, is rich, and animals need not suffer. Very little wood. The manner of crossing, in case the stream is high, has been described. From the South Fork, the trail bears again very much to the North and crosses the high dividing land between the