"The sound of the church-going bell, These valleys and rocks never heard—” we concluded to work our way out upon the Plains by easy stages, and camp sufficiently far in advance to enable us to reach Laporte for dinner on the following day. We stopped an hour or so in the middle of the day, at Jack's Springs, where General Dodge regaled us with lunch from a French patti of plover, which was most excellent, and should form a staple for all self-subsisting travellers. At four P. M. we reached the valley of Box-Elder Creek, and encamped for the night. Our route during most of the day had passed over the heavy swells, or sedimentary formations, which lie between the former base of the mountains and the present level of the plains; and which were formed, undoubtedly, by débris of the more perishable rocks, brought down by the mountain torrents, and deposited in long, irregular slopes at their base. DEATH OF THE ANTELOPE. On Monday morning we resumed our course towards Laporte, having left our escort to await orders at Camp Box-Elder. Our route lay over very much the same character of country as we had traversed the previous day. When at a distance of about two miles from camp, Mr. Williams, who was riding in advance, observed an antelope, lying down, some three or four hundred yards directly in our front. He quietly halted until the balance of the party came up, when General Dodge and myself dismounted and prepared for action; Messrs. Williams and Evans remaining in their saddles, the better to observe the effect of our guns. The General, from his long practice, was able to unlim ber his carbine and bring it to bear before I was quite prepared, and consequently obtained the first shot, upon which the animal, evidently aroused from a quiet sleep, quickly arose to its feet, and looked toward us for an explanation. Seeing my advantage, and having observed that the General's ball struck the ground some distance short of the antelope, I concluded that the distance was too great for a point blank range, and therefore decided to fire upon the ricochet principle, which proved entirely successful. The animal fell instantly, and when we reached the spot was almost lifeless from loss of blood, caused by the passage of the ball through the neck, and severing the carotid artery. Mr. Williams, although evidently entertaining some doubts as to the legitimacy of the shot, manifested great delight at the result; and, without intending any disrespect to General Dodge, whose reputation for skill in bagging much larger game had become so well established during the late war, immediately pronounced me the huntist of the party, and awarded me the beautiful skin as an additional trophy. Our commissary, McLain, on coming up soon afterward, hung the antelope upon the elk-horns at the rear of the wagon, and thus followed us triumphantly into Laporte, where we arrived at eleven A. M. END OF THE MOUNTAIN EXCURSION. Thus ended the equestrian part of our excursion. The exercise had been long and somewhat severe; but the natural as well as professional interest which Mr. Williams and myself had taken in the features of the country (150 miles of which we had traversed on horseback during the past six days), together with, to us, the unusual and exciting incidents connected with mountain camplife, had made the time pass most pleasantly; and caused us to regret the pressure of other engagements which would soon compel us to leave it, and part, for a time, at least, with our most attentive and agreeable travelling companions. My faithful horse had also become an object of sincere attachment. His fast, ambling gait was most easy and comfortable, after the first one or two days of back-climation; and he had never failed me, either in a sudden dash across the plain after an antelope, or the difficult crossing of a mountain-ledge or chasm; and I parted from him with sincere regret. But I fear it was not so with my friend Mr. Williams, whose black horse "Chug-water" (which name he gave him on account of some peculiarity in his gait) came near failing him on several occasions; once, I recollect, when he stumbled and broke his saddle-girth; and quite frequently when he would persistently try to descend a hill upward, or, rather I should say, sideways or backward, instead of the straightforward way downward. THE VI. PARTING SUPPER AT LAPORTE-JOURNEY TO TRIP OVER THE PLAINS TO KEARNY-MEETING LADAY AND THOMAS C. DENVER-RETURN WITH BEN HOL FRIENDS-RAILROAD TRIP TO OMAHA-TRIBUTE TO PACIFIC RAILROAD-TROUBLES AT THE HERNDEN HOUSE. OMAHA, NEBRASKA, Monday, Oct. 8, 1866. LAPORTE TO DENVER AND KEARNY. After a most excellent parting supper from the antelope, killed the previous day, and other fixings which our hostess, Mrs. Taylor, provided in her best style, Mr. Williams and myself parted from our friends, Gen. Dodge and Mr. Evans, at Laporte, on the evening of October 1, and took the stage for Denver; which place we reached for breakfast on the following morning, without accident or adventure. The succeeding day was spent in preparing for our departure eastward. On Wednesday morning, October 3, we took our seats in one of Ben Holladay's best coaches, in company with Senator Chaffee, of Central City, Colorado bound for a connection with the somewhat more comfortable cars of the Union Pacific Railroad, at the nearest practicable point, which we hoped to be Plum Creek, or some point further west. The roads were in excellent condition; and nothing worth noting occurred to break the dull monotony of our passage over the dry and sterile plains, covered with low tufts of yellow frost-bitten grass, and the whitened bones or decaying carcasses of innumerable cattle which had fallen out by the way, until we reached Fort Kearny on the following Saturday morning for breakfast. Mr. Williams, however, did not lose an opportunity of impressing upon our minds, as we met and passed the long emigrant and freight trains, wending their slow and tedious way to and from the more distant West, the truth and practicability of his favorite theories in relation to the formation and ultimate destiny of this portion of the country, which were: First. That the Great Platte Valley, extending, as it does, in a direct line eastward, nearly six hundred miles from the base of the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri Valley, was intended as the great thoroughfare for the overland commerce of the world. Second. That the Platte River itself was intended, in the first instance, to supply water to the early pioneers and emigrants in their pilgrimages to and from the Rocky Mountains; and subsequently to afford the means for irrigating the immense plains along its borders; and thus render it eventually one of the finest pastoral and agricultural regions upon the continent. And, Third. That the perpetual snows upon the mountains were intended to furnish an unfailing supply of water to the mountain streams which flow into the Platte; and thus, during all time, afford the means of irrigation to the extensive table lands along the eastern base of the mountains. BEN HOLLADAY AND FRIENDS. At Fort Kearny we met the veritable Ben. Holladay himself, with his agent, Mr. Street, and travelling companion, Dr. Sayre, of New York city; together with a |