It was studded with
islands which, like the alluvial bottoms, were covered with groves
of cotton-wood, thickets of willow, tracts of good lowland grass, and
abundance of green rushes. The adjacent plains were so vast in extent
that no single band of Indians could drive the buffalo out of them;
nor was the snow of sufficient depth to give any serious inconvenience.
Indeed, during the sojourn of Captain Bonneville in this neighborhood,
which was in the heart of winter, he found the weather, with the
exception of a few cold and stormy days, generally mild and pleasant,
freezing a little at night but invariably thawing with the morning's
sun-resembling the spring weather in the middle parts of the United
States.
The lofty range of the Three Tetons, those great landmarks of the Rocky
Mountains rising in the east and circling away to the north and west
of the great plain of Snake River, and the mountains of Salt River and
Portneuf toward the south, catch the earliest falls of snow. Their white
robes lengthen as the winter advances, and spread themselves far into
the plain, driving the buffalo in herds to the banks of the river in
quest of food; where they are easily slain in great numbers.
Such were the palpable advantages of this winter encampment; added to
which, it was secure from the prowlings and plunderings of any petty
band of roving Blackfeet, the difficulties of retreat rendering it
unwise for those crafty depredators to venture an attack unless with an
overpowering force.
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