The Discovery of Yellowstone Park: Journal of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870Langford, Nathaniel Pitt
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The Discovery of Yellowstone Park: Journal of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870
Langford, Nathaniel Pitt
Langford, Nathaniel Pitt, 1832-1911 -- Diaries; Yellowstone National Park -- Discovery and exploration
"Some of the party who had gone a short distance ahead to find out the
best course to take the next day, soon returned and reported a grizzly
and her two cubs about a quarter of a mile from camp. Six of the party
decorated themselves as walking armories, and at once started in
pursuit. Each individual was sandwiched between two revolvers and a
knife, was supported around the middle by a belt of cartridges, and
carried in his hand a needle carbine. Each one was particularly anxious
to be the first to catch the bear, and an exciting foot-race ensued
until the party got within 300 yards of the place where the bear was
supposed to be concealed. The foremost man then suddenly got out of
breath, and, in fact, they all got out of breath. It was an epidemic. A
halt was made, and the brute loudly dared to come out and show itself,
while a spirited discussion took place as to what was best to do with
the cubs. The location was a mountain side, thickly timbered with tall
straight pines having no limbs within thirty feet of the ground. It was
decided to advance more cautiously to avoid frightening the animal, and
every tree which there was any chance of climbing was watched with
religious care, in order to intercept her should she attempt to take
refuge in its branches. An hour was passed in vain search for the
sneaking beast, which had evidently taken to flight. Then this
formidable war party returned to camp, having a big disgust at the
cowardly conduct of the bear, but, as the darkie said, 'not having it
bad.' Just before getting in sight of camp, the six invincibles
discharged their firearms simultaneously, in order to show those
remaining behind just how they would have slaughtered the bear, but more
particularly just how they did not. This was called the 'Bear Camp.'"
Mr. Trumbull was one of the party of hunters whose efforts to capture
the bear he so well describes.]
[Footnote R: Our subsequent journeying showed that Lieutenant Doane was
right in his conjecture.]
[Footnote S: The Honorable Granville Stuart, of Montana, in his book
"Montana as It Is," published in 1865, says that there is another root
found in portions of Montana which I have never seen. Mr. Stuart says:
"Thistle-root is the root of the common thistle, which is very abundant
in the bottoms along nearly all the streams in the mountain. They grow
to about the size of a large radish, and taste very much like turnips,
and are good either raw or cooked with meat."
Captain William Clark, of the famous Lewis and Clark expedition, dropped
the final _e_ from the word cowse, spelling it c-o-w-s. Unless this
error is noticed by the reader, he will not understand what Captain
Clark meant when he said that members of his party were searching for
the _cows_.]
[Footnote T: Lieutenant Doane, in his official report to the War
Department, says, concerning this episode:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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