September 17, 1833
Very cold morning. We navigated early through the most interesting passage of the Stone Walls, where we once more admired the white fortresses, turrets, old castles, churches, and rock pillars, to which we now had to bid farewell forever. Like a dream, these marvelous figures streak past the eyes of the astonished traveler, and only through direct sketches of the most striking ones do these later still survive in [our] rewarding recollection of this remote, forgotten, marvelous world of nature. Only individual trappers, beaver hunters, and the boats of the Fur Company observe these wonders of nature, sometimes indifferently; a few dollars have greater value to them than all the marvels of nature combined, which the Stone Walls and the Rocky Mountains offer. We saw several wolves and bighorn.
About seven or eight o’clock in the morning, we halted on the left bank below a prairie where there was a sandy beach with rocky debris and mussels (Unio [——]). Four buffalo were grazing near the mountains. Our fire soon blazed up and warmed the benumbed travelers; we had breakfast. On the sandbar, numerous buffalo and elk tracks crisscrossed each other, and a large bear had recently imprinted its track here into the soft sand. Eagles, common ravens, and crows flew along the river; magpies were numerous in this region. The prairie was overgrown with Artemisia and the light-green thorn, with very few grasses between them. The former plant was less frequent here. The thorn had separate sexes: the male flower, a catkin.
An hour later the journey was continued. At ten o’clock we reached the place where we had met the Gros Ventres des Prairies on our way upstream. They had left [the] mouth of the Bighorn River, and not a trace of them [was] to be seen. On the left bank, we took specimens of the white sandstone from the Stone Walls. We saw some buffalo along the mountains, wild geese (Anser canadensis) on the river, and many magpies on the bank. At several rapids the water was so shallow that we struck bottom. Directly above the Judith River, the white sandstone begins in places. We soon reached the broad, flat prairie basin at the mouth of the Judith. Opposite it a spotted wolf observed us and then slowly walked away.
At twelve o’clock we passed the mouth of that river; buffalo herds were grazing on both banks, [and] we also saw several large bull elk on the prairie. The wind was brisk and strong. Since we suspected [that] Indians [might be] here, we moved quietly and cautiously. Buffalo bulls frequently swam close to us through the river, but because their meat is now especially bad, no one shot at them; meanwhile, they provided us with great entertainment. The huge, clumsy figures started off at their usual gallop as soon as they got wind of us; if we had a good wind, we were able to get very close to them, for their sight and hearing are less acute. Finally, somewhat farther downriver, we again saw along the left bank a herd of about 120 buffalo, with many calves and cows, where the bulls constantly gave forth their grunting roars.
We anchored at an island covered with sand and willows, which was separated from the left bank by only a dried-out channel, and approached the animals. The channel was too swampy for us, but Morrin waded through it. He followed the herd moving upstream for a long time; [he] crept on all fours and on his stomach after them in the prairie; but he fired in vain under unfavorable conditions and then returned to the island. During this time a magpie had greatly entertained me; [it] alighted near me on a cottonwood 3 paces away and made the most varied sounds and gestures, certainly very different from the European magpie. A very strong wind had arisen.
We continued on, saw on shore a beaver’s lodge without a dam and other dens. A half hour farther, twenty-four buffalo bulls moved near us to the right on the narrow prairie before the mountains. Morrin shot one of them. Only a little of its flesh was taken along. After [that] shot, the remaining ones stood still for a while, since we had a good wind, and several [more] could have been shot, [but that was] something that we did not want to do. At 4:30 we halted at a small ravine [in] the right bank above Dauphin Rapid, made a fire, and cooked our supper. Morrin used the time to stalk the numerous bighorn here and shot an old and [a] young female; we prepared the meat. I took one of the skulls with me.
Before dusk we continued our journey; and 20 minutes later [we] reached Dauphin Rapid, which we descended at twilight without striking bottom; then we halted at the right bank and slept there. During one of the first watches, the wolves on the opposite bank bit each other and made a loud noise. At ten o’clock in the starlit sky, a splendid meteor appeared. From east to west, there was a long band of bright white light in the sky, very distinctly painted, which was separated from the horizon. It lasted about an hour, and the sky became overcast. Later it also rained very heavily. On the following morning,