CAMPS IN THE ROCKIES.*
lona other works by the same author, this is a pleasant record of travel and sport ; but instead of tracking the writer's foot- steps among the Tyrolese Alps, we are now called upon to follow him into remote Western fastnesses, and on journeys compared with which his former wanderings, although a good preparation for more serious undertakings, may almost be said to be child's- play. The scene of Mr. Grohman's recent adventures is a portion of the Rocky Mountains, some part of which had not been previously visited by white men. But before entering upon his explorations, or sitting with him by the camp fire, under any of the varied circumstances which he so graphically describes, we shall do well to remind ourselves of the vast scale on which the operations of Nature are carried on at the other side of the Atlantic, and realise that we have not now to do with a continuous chain of summits, however gigantic, but with a number of separate ranges, intersected by high table-land passes of a hundred or more miles in width, the western half of Wyoming alone containing four such ranges, perfectly distinct from each other, the longest, highest, and most important being that of he Big Wind River, at the northern extremity of which, to the south-east of the Yellowstone Country, lies the immense triangular sea of peaks known as the Sierra Soshon6. Of this mountain system, the greater portion is rugged and barren, while some of its slopes are covered by dense forests, the alti- tudes above timber-line varying from 10,000 to 14,000 feet, A portion of it had been visited by different United States exploring parties, notably those of Captain Reynolds and 'Captain Jones ; but until after the Bannock War of 1878, the -country was, owing to the hostility of the Indians, too unsafe for small parties of travellers ; and at the present moment, there -seems again to be considerable danger from the "Mountain Crows" and Arrappahoes, who are always ready to take to the war-path. At the time of the author's journey, however, the districts we speak of were so clear that he was able to gratify his desire of seeing them, and having secured the companionship of a veteran coureur des beds, who had also played the part of Indian scout in some of the most sanguinary wars, he carried out his expeditions in genuine trapper fashion, reducing his im-
• Camps in Ms Buhr,. By W. A. BaillM.Grohman. London: Sampson Low .end.Co.
pedimenta to the very smallest modicum, and depending upon bountiful nature for food and lodging.
The sportsman who goes to work in this way sees life under a thoroughly new aspect, and is able to penetrate into regions which it would be otherwise impossible to visit. Once inured to privation, too, he enjoys himself amazingly, although not every one is either mentally or physically qualified for such an under- taking. Mr. Grohman, however, a hunter from boyhood, had already made many trials of his powers of endurance, and found himself, though naturally wanting in experience of a cer- tain kind, fully capable of holding his own, even with the hardiest of frontiersmen. His "outfit," to use the curious Western expression which, as we are told, covers every imagin- able human, animate, and inanimate being or article,—a wife, a wedding, a funeral, a rifle, or a hunting party, coming equally under this designation,—consisted simply of the trapper, another man, and a boy, with some pack-horses laden with beaver-traps, ammunition, cooking utensils, a whiskey-cask, and a small stock of provisions and other necessaries ; and though there was nothing " top-shelf " about it, the caravan had a very workmanlike, "ready-for-all-emergencies," appearance, the leading spirit, "Port," being a thoroughly genial, manly fellow, of great bravery, and full of dry humour, and the man and boy also characters in their own way. Mr. Grohman delights in giving us every now and then a sample of Western slang, which occasionally enlivens, but more often spoils his narrative. This, however, might be forgiven, but not so his deliberately expressed preference for the phonetic spelling of a word, which continually meets us in the hideous guise of canyon, and is enough to put the mildest re- viewer out of temper, especially as one of the most delightful parts of the book is the account of the winter journey to the wonderful and little-known gorges of the Colorado River.
Unable to provide boats for visiting the Caiions in the only way hitherto deemed practicable, the author hit upon the novel expedient of attempting their exploration in the depth of a very severe winter, believing, and as it proved correctly, that the river would be ice-bound even at so great a depth, and, notwith- standing the extreme rapidity of its current. With some necessaries packed on an Indian pony, having left his per- manent camp near the head coition, Mr. Grohman threaded his way alone through several of these remarkable gorges, at the bottom of which lay the rock-hemmed river, looking, except at the rapids, like a broad, smooth, Alpine road through a gigantic mountain defile, some sixty yards in width, and from two to three thousand feet in depth, the colouring of the massive walls being often wonderfully beautiful, while the solemn stillness had also its special charm.
Mr. Grohman often speaks of the strangely vivid, but crude colouring that distinguishes Western mountain scenery, especially among the tn,auvaises terres, where the country, for many thousands of square miles lacking the upper crust of vegetation, and with its singular geological formation showing in the intense sunlight successive bands of different conglomerates in black, brown, pea-green, purple, and vermilion streaks, and that, too, in fantastic, isolated crags, airy pinnacles, or castellated summits, reminds the traveller of some of the early pictorial attempts of primitive races, alike devoid of perspective, and of harmony of tints. Speaking of the Sierra Soshon6, the author remarks :—
" We penetrated into this range from two sides, from the south and from the east, and more weird mountain scenery than was disclosed to me day after day cannot be imagined Rugged, as, per- haps, no other upheaval in the world, the eye wanders in amazement from the trenched and castellated upper surface, to the deep canyons, lined with great caverns, pillars, towers, and steeples, often hundreds of feet in height. Most of the narrow, fissure-like gorges have been produced by water erosions through consecutive strata of various
lava conglomerates to a depth of 1,500 and 2,000 feet Except the bizarre conglomerates, Needle, a prominent landmark, and the only mountain in the vast ocean of pinnacles that has received a name, and another nameless one, which I discovered north-west of it which are both of granite, the other hundreds, nay, thousands, of peaks and eminences are of volcanic origin."
In strong contrast with this is the description of the lovely forest and lake scenery about Timberline, a ramble through which, in quest of wapiti or bighorn, is so delightful, in the keen, bracing atmosphere. Above the vast stretches of trackless forest, you come upon hundreds of lakelets, each with its distinct physiognomy. In one you may see a great stag or a moose deer knee-deep in the water, while the presence of beaver will give to
another "the peculiar charm of inhabiteduess ;" some will be shut in by vast rocky walls, or surrounded by huge boulders tossed about by some convulsion of nature, while others lie serene and smiling amidst their wooded shores, the waters being of crystal clearness and of the hue of the beryl. Again, they may be found lying in tiers over each other, as many as six tiers having been seen together on the slopes of some giant peak, separated from each other by huge, perpendicular steps in the mountain formation. On many an occasion after a long stalk, it is pleasant, the author tells us, to stretch oneself on the soft sward beside one of these tranquil tarns, and look by turns at the magnificent landscape, and at the furred and feathered creatures who people these solitudes—the deer coming down to the water, the otter creeping along the banks, the" old-man" beaver, with his spouse and kittens cutting or collecting feed- sticks, a quaint little family of blue-winged teal circling and diving in the little bay, or perhaps a flight of wild-geese making a halt in their southernward journey—until it is time to return to the camp fire, which loqks so picturesque, with its group of Rembrandt-like figures smoking the pipe of peace, before begin- ning the two hours' hard work of the evening, for rifles have tithe cleaned, cartridges to be loaded, clothes have to be patched and horses to be shod, boots and mocassius want the awl and last, straps and pack-harness need splicing, and pack. sacks patches; while last, but by no means least, there is most likely a large heap of peltry to be carefully stretched and pegged out, before the buffalo-skin bed can be smoothed and occupied. Not always, however, is a camp scene so peaceful ; it may be that a night, or perhaps a clay and a night, has to be passed in a snowstorm, when all the saddles and traps have to be used to keep down a protecting sail-cloth, and the pick-axe does duty for an anchor ; or possibly an eight days' hurricane may have to be got over in a miser- able "dug-out," some 10 ft. by 9 ft., scooped out of the side of a calion, and crowded up with the whole " outfit ;" but of course the rough mast be taken with the smooth, and Mr. Grohman and his followers seem to have had the happy knack of "not being given," as he expresses it, "to borrow trouble."
In his chapter headed," Camps -in Cowboyland," as well as in the appendix, he gives an interesting account of the cattle- raising business, and its westward extension, with statistics which may serve to show very fairly what are the usual profits made by men who have had moderate lack, and who were pos- sessed of reasonable skill ; and one point is especially dwelt upon, in reference to English immigrants, namely, the necessity, and yet the great difficulty, to a Briton of becoming thoroughly Americanised, without which process it seems that success in the business is most unlikely. A gentleman-farmer is an unheard-of personage in the States; a man must work with his men early and late, and he must never say, "Go and do," but, "Come, let us do so and so." And if the English gentleman aspires to be a good rancheman, he must work as do the others, for in no occupation is popularity more essential than in this one, and in none is a man so dependent on his neighbours, so open to petty annoyances, or so helplessly exposed to vindictive injury.
• There is also in Mr. Grohman's book a good deal of information about the fauna of the Rockies, for he studied not only the various animals of the deer tribe, which were the special objects of his pursuit; but also directed much attention to the beaver, and de- - scribes minutely the habits and methods of working both of the 'bank" and "dam" beaver, and the formation of beaver meadows, telling us the suggestive story of the man who learned from the examination of the work of these intelligent creatures how to get over a serious engineering difficulty, by building dams and reservoirs entirely of peat. Of a less pleasant animal Mr. Groh man has also a good deal to say, going into the question of hydrophobia produced by skunk-bites and the method of cure, and giving us also some curious facts about that disagreeable _creature. On the whole, we may fairly say that his book, while it cannot fail to amuse the stay-at-home reader, is also likely to prove useful to the traveller or the settler in Western lands.
Previous page
