In this way they urged their slow and painful course to the south down
John Day's Creek, until it lost itself in a swamp. Here they encamped
upon the ice among stiffened willows, where they were obliged to beat
down and clear away the snow to procure pasturage for their horses.
Hence they toiled on to Godin River; so called after an Iroquois hunter
in the service of Sublette, who was murdered there by the Blackfeet.
Many of the features of this remote wilderness are thus named after
scenes of violence and bloodshed that occurred to the early pioneers. It
was an act of filial vengeance on the part of Godin's son Antoine that,
as the reader may recollect, brought on the recent battle at Pierre's
Hole.
From Godin's River, Captain Bonneville and his followers came out upon
the plain of the Three Butes, so called from three singular and isolated
hills that rise from the midst. It is a part of the great desert of
Snake River, one of the most remarkable tracts beyond the mountains.
Could they have experienced a respite from their sufferings and
anxieties, the immense landscape spread out before them was calculated
to inspire admiration. Winter has its beauties and glories as well as
summer; and Captain Bonneville had the soul to appreciate them.
Far away, says he, over the vast plains, and up the steep sides of the
lofty mountains, the snow lay spread in dazzling whiteness: and whenever
the sun emerged in the morning above the giant peaks, or burst forth
from among clouds in his midday course, mountain and dell, glazed rock
and frosted tree, glowed and sparkled with surpassing lustre.
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