He
proposed to rejoin his band in the early part of March, at the winter
encampment near the Portneuf. All these arrangements being completed,
he mounted his horse on Christmas morning, and set off with his three
comrades. They halted a little beyond the Bannack camp, and made their
Christmas dinner, which, if not a very merry, was a very hearty one,
after which they resumed their journey.
They were obliged to travel slowly, to spare their horses; for the snow
had increased in depth to eighteen inches; and though somewhat packed
and frozen, was not sufficiently so to yield firm footing. Their route
lay to the west, down along the left side of Snake River; and they were
several days in reaching the first, or American Falls. The banks of the
river, for a considerable distance, both above and below the falls,
have a volcanic character: masses of basaltic rock are piled one upon
another; the water makes its way through their broken chasms, boiling
through narrow channels, or pitching in beautiful cascades over ridges
of basaltic columns.
Beyond these falls, they came to a picturesque, but inconsiderable
stream, called the Cassie. It runs through a level valley, about four
miles wide, where the soil is good; but the prevalent coldness and
dryness of the climate is unfavorable to vegetation. Near to this stream
there is a small mountain of mica slate, including garnets. Granite,
in small blocks, is likewise seen in this neighborhood, and white
sandstone.
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