This morning, when daylight revealed the sudden highway, exclamations8 of astonishment9 ran through the camp and adown the column, as now the march was made so much easier.
“Wagh! The Snake woman says it air the great medicine road o’ the whites,” remarked William New.
“Looks to me as if all the folks in Missouri were moving out to Oregon,” called back Ike.
“You would think so, if you had been with us at the start,” responded Basil Lajeunesse, who was riding to chat with the Carson men. “Oregon and California both. Name of a dog! Until the trail forked and we[156] turned off for St. Vrain the Laramie route was a string of beads10, so thick were wagons. That Doctor Whitman, he has stirred people up. One thousand for Oregon—men and women and the children—were collected at the Kansas, waiting for him.”
“These air fresh sign,” quoth Ike, with an eye upon the hoof3 marks and wheel tracks, and the freshly plucked springs where women and children must have wandered, picking nosegays.
“Lieutenant11 Frémont, he stirred people up, too,” continued Basil, proudly. “It is ‘South Pass,’ ‘South Pass,’ everybody talk about ‘South Pass,’ so easy to cross. And the Congress talk, too, all about Oregon, and it say it will give to every American settler in Oregon six hundred forty acres of land and for his child one hundred sixty acres. I should like to go, myself, but I do not know as my family like to go.”
“Some’ll never get thar,” grunted12 William New. “Thar’s a grave, already. Wonder the wolves or the Injuns haven’t dug it open yet. They will.”
The South Pass was crossed. Still onward led the great trail. Occasionally at camping-spot or elsewhere relics13 were to be noted14. Once Oliver found a ragged15 doll; and was seen again a hasty grave.
The Big Sandy creek16, at the foot of the pass, where a year before the camp had been made ere turning north to climb the Peak, was left behind, and now ahead waited new country.
On August 15—
[157]
“Thar’s the Green,” announced Oliver’s faithful mentor17, William New. “We’re pretty high in Mexican territory, too. Some say it reaches up this fur, west o’ the mountains, along the Rio Verde. Seedskeedee River air what she’s called by the Crows—which means peerairie-hen river.”
The river was about 400 yards wide. The road forded it at a shallow place, and turned down along it. The current flowed among wooded islands.
That night, at camp, Lieutenant Frémont much discussed the river with Kit18 Carson and Basil Lajeunesse and Mr. Preuss and others.
“This must be the same as the Buenaventura, or Good-Fortune River of the early Spanish,” asserted the lieutenant. “That is, if it has a branch emptying into the Pacific.”
“Never heard of any,” answered Kit Carson. “Did you, Basil?”
“Wall, I have,” resumed Kit. “I’ve been west down the Mary’s River to its end in the Sinks; and I’ve been on the lower end o’ this hyar Green—or what mout be this hyar Green, whar it’s called the Colorado.”
“What’s below, Kit?” queried20 the lieutenant, quickly. “I hear strange stories of fine valleys at the bottoms of canyons21 entered by a secret trail, and of[158] wonderful beaver23 grounds and ancient towns, shut in by walls a mile high.”
“Wall,” drawled Kit, “when I went out to Californy in Twenty-nine, with Captain Young, we struck the Colorado at a place whar the river’d sunk down into a canyon22 full a mile deep an’ three mile acrost. We didn’t get down into it, but I’m ready to believe that ’most anything could be found at the bottom. They call it the Grand Canyon, now. Injuns say thar’s a heap more o’ the same kind, up above, for three hundred mile.”
“But did you ever hear anything about the Buenaventura River, flowing west instead of south, across the Great Basin and emptying into the Pacific Ocean?”
“Heard about it, but never saw it,” stated Kit. “Never knew a trapper who did see it. O’ course, Injuns give out all sort o’ tales, an’ you can’t believe ’em.”
“The early Spanish claimed such a river, did they not—draining a lake?” put in Mr. Preuss. “It is marked down on maps that I have seen.”
“Yes,” replied the lieutenant. “Now, if there is such a river, as the Buenaventura, connecting this central Great Basin with the Pacific Ocean of California, what a boon24 will it be! Boats could ascend25 the Arkansas, or the Platte, or the Missouri River, be carried across the mountains, and launching into the Buenaventura continue on to the coast!”
[159]
“Bien, bien!” cried Basil.
From the Green the road crossed among hills, making westward27 for the Bear. Soon the Snake woman, with her two children and her six pack-horses, left to seek relatives at the trading post of old Jim Bridger, only a few miles away. And the next day Kit Carson spurred ahead, for Fort Hall, to engage provisions there, in case that the Thomas Fitzpatrick party, which should be somewhere on the way from Fort Laramie, might be running short or have met with misfortune.
However, that very evening provisions walked in of themselves—being a cow and her calf28. They must have escaped from some emigrant29 party; and they were made more of even than had been the red ox—for the cow gave milk in abundance. Here was luxury: milk for coffee. So they took the mother and child along with them.
Early in the second morning thereafter the company entered the beautiful valley of what Ike and William and all said was the Bear River. Below but a short distance were the “Beer Springs” and the “Steamboat Spring”; and further below was the Great Salty Lake.
That they would visit the springs was certain, because the trail led past them; but whether they would[160] visit the lake was not so certain, although Basil, reporting to the Carson men, assured:
“We will. I think we will. I hear the lieutenant and Mr. Preuss talking so. That is why we brought again the boat.”
“Boat!” snorted Ike. “Another o’ them rubber contraptions?”
“Bien encore,” confirmed Basil. “It is ready in the packs. Like the other but not so big.”
Oliver wished much to ask questions about the springs, but he knew that if he waited he would find out everything, whereas if he asked he would likely be filled with trapper yarns32. Besides, it was the part of a greenhorn to put many foolish questions. However, William New did remark, as they rode along:
“That ’ere springs basin ahead’ll make you think you’re in the infernal regions. Red rock an’ blue rock an’ green trees, an’ hot water an’ cold, an’ sulphur smells an’ noises. Wagh!”
Emigrants33, making a large and happy encampment, were passed; and still more, encamped or moving, their white-topped wagons showing finely. The men were dressed in flannel34 or calico shirts, jeans and boots; the women in calico; the children, chiefly barefoot, in material of various makeshift kinds: and everybody was happy and hopeful and well, eager to talk of “Oregon” or of “Californy.”
[161]
“How far to Oregon, strangers?” asked one of the men.
“You’re in it!” answered the lieutenant, laughing. “Anywhere above forty-two degrees latitude35, west of the South Pass, is Oregon!”
Some Snake Indians, riding the trail, met the company and told the lieutenant that a large village of their fellows had just come in from antelope36 hunting and berry gathering37, and were camped near by. These Snakes appeared to be open-hearted, friendly Indians. They shook hands with Ike and the other trappers; and as Oliver well knew, Snakes and trappers were good friends, always, united against the Blackfeet and the Sioux. In fact, the Indians west of the South Pass were to be counted upon as friendlies—except the Diggers.
“Watch out for the Diggers, or they’ll slip an arrow into ye, sure,” had warned William New.
So, this being Snake country, the lieutenant rode aside to pay a visit to the Snake village. But as they came in sight of it, a mile away in a pretty little bottom-land beside a stream, out from the cluster of skin lodges38 sped a horseman—and another, and another, and squad40 after squad, charging into the open, before.
“Look out, boys!” rang the voice of Lieutenant Frémont, galloping41 down the line. And—“Get that howitzer ready!” he ordered.
[162]
“Those Injuns ’most crazy, I think,” muttered Basil, aiding the lieutenant.
“Wagh! Looks like we’ll be gone beaver, if we don’t watch out,” called Ike. “What’s the matter with the fools, I wonder.”
The Snakes evidently were in battle array. They were fully42 armed, with bows and lances and guns; many were almost wholly naked, save for the great war bonnets43 which floated their red, yellow and white feathers far behind the racing44 horses. In a solid, yelling mass they came on, while in the village women and children scuttled45 into the brush. Suddenly, ere a shot had been fired, the foremost of the Snakes raised his hand; his warriors46 slackened, and he rode forward, to where the white men were formed for peace or war.
The Snake chief explained that his people had seen the flag, and that as their enemies the Sioux and the Blackfeet were accustomed to bear a flag of some kind they had supposed that this was an attack. He was glad that no shots had been fired, for the Snakes never had spilled the blood of a white man.
This explanation was satisfactory, and escorted by a dense47 throng48 of the Indians the Frémont and Carson men rode on to the Snake village.
The chief pointed49 out a spot, by the village, where the company should camp; and then in a loud voice announced to the Indians that the white chief wished to buy horses. Many speedily were driven up by their[163] owners, and for beads and tobacco and knives and red and blue cloth eight were taken over.
The kettles were on the lodge39 fires, as always is the case in an Indian camp. The atmosphere was filled with a peculiar50 odor. Ike and William New and the other Carson trappers, and some of the Frémont men also, sniffed51 as if pleased; and Oliver sniffed, but pretended not to be curious. This odor was like to decayed apples—and evidently so thought Mr. Preuss the bristly-headed, red-faced German, as he bustled52 about.
“What is that? Rotted apples!” he exclaimed, wrinkling his nose disgustedly. “Where do you suppose these Snakes got apples. I declare!”
“That smell?” responded Ike. “That’s kooyah. That’s the finest grub out: kooyah root. Hyar—try some.”
A squaw was bringing, evidently as a gift, a steaming platter of yellowish substance that might have been mashed53 sweet-potatoes; she presented it to Ike with a smile. Mr. Preuss took some upon the point of his hunting-knife. He gingerly tasted it.
“Kooyah root. But what’s the matter with yuh—wasting good food like that. I tell ’ee, it air prime fodder55; it air prime, baked or b’iled, an’ with that in yore meat-bag you can travel fur.”
[164]
The Carson men afterwards learned that the chief sent to the Frémont lodge, where Mr. Preuss also had quarters, a kettle of the kooyah as a compliment, and that the German was driven by it into the open air. During the march through the Snake country the camps made sport for themselves by slyly sticking some of the kooyah messes under Mr. Preuss’ nose; whereat he always fled.
However, all the others, even the lieutenant, liked the kooyah, which was called in English “tobacco root,” and in scientific language, according to the lieutenant and Mr. Preuss, “valerian.”
The Oregon emigrant trail led westward, down the Bear, between high hills and through immense areas of blue flax now going to seed. Along the trail were travelling, at irregular intervals57, squads58 of emigrants, with their wagons and cattle, either camping or on the move for the day’s march. The main caravan59 was still some distance ahead, under personal leadership of Dr. Whitman.
“Yonder, over that fust ridge,” directed William New, to Oliver, at their next mess fire, “air the Beer Springs an’ the Steamboat Spring. Wagh! That’ll surprise ye—an’ it’ll give that German something to think of besides kooyah.”
“Do they taste?” queried Oliver.
“Taste, boy! Thar’s a heap o’ tastes! But that[165] Beer Spring group air fine. O’ course they air a drink that don’t hurt ye; but we trappers claim they make you feel like dancing Injun, jest the same. I ’xpect it air the gas, tickling60 yore insides. If all the drinks in the world war no wuss’n these hyar Beer Springs, made by nature, the world’d be better off. So don’t think, ’cause we old-timers named ’em in fun, that thar’s anything wrong with ’em. Sody Springs they’re called, too.”
The springs were located in a basin enclosed by a semicircle of rugged61 mountain-crests, on the one hand, and by the river on the other. First, pieces of lava62 were to be noted, beside the trail; then came the springs themselves—hundreds of them, bubbling and welling from the green and red and white and yellow ground. Many of them had made little cones63, of bright colors; and even the current of the river boiled and frothed with the gas.
Everybody quaffed64 deeply of the waters, which sparkled and bubbled, clear and luke-warm, from the rocks and the tufts of grass.
“Hi yah! Hi yah!” capered65 William New, ridiculously. “Hyar’s doings! This chile wants to dance. Hi yah!”
But he was only pretending, after the fashion of the place.
If anybody was not satisfied with a spring, all he had to do was to walk a few steps, and dig with his heel or with a stick, and he would open up a new spring—sometimes[166] with a slightly different taste. Down stream about half a mile was the most remarkable66 spring of all: the Steamboat Spring. From a red crack in a rock right at the bank of the river, and beside the trail, spurted67 a jet of steamy water, rising and falling; a couple of yards from it, from a small round hole puffed jets of steamy air; and water and air together made a noise like the sighing “choo choo!” of a steamboat.
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1
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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5
furrow
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| n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹 | |
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6
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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7
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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8
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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9
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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10
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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12
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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13
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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14
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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15
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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16
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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17
mentor
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| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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18
kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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21
canyons
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| n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 ) | |
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canyon
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| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
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23
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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24
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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25
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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26
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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27
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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28
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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emigrant
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| adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民 | |
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30
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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31
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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32
yarns
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| n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事 | |
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33
emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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34
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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35
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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antelope
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| n.羚羊；羚羊皮 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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38
lodges
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| v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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39
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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40
squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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41
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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42
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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43
bonnets
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| n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子 | |
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44
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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45
scuttled
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| v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
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46
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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47
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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48
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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49
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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50
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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51
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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52
bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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53
mashed
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| a.捣烂的 | |
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54
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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55
fodder
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| n.草料；炮灰 | |
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56
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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57
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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58
squads
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| n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍 | |
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59
caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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60
tickling
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| 反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法 | |
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61
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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62
lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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63
cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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64
quaffed
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| v.痛饮( quaff的过去式和过去分词 )；畅饮；大口大口将…喝干；一饮而尽 | |
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65
capered
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| v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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67
spurted
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| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的过去式和过去分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺 | |
参考例句： |
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