volume xiv, p. 185, note 154; also in our volume xxi, p. 142, note

15.--ED.

[20] For a biographical note on Colonel Stephen W. Kearny see our volume xvii, p. 12, note 4. In the summer of 1845 the general of the army ordered Kearny to take five companies of dragoons and proceed from Fort Leavenworth via the Oregon Trail to South Pass, returning by way of the Arkansas and the Santa Fé Trail. The object was both to impress the Indians, and to report upon the feasibility of an advanced military post near Fort Laramie. Leaving their encampment May 18, they were upon the Little Blue by the twenty-sixth of the month. See report in _Senate Docs._, 29 Cong., 1 sess., 1, pp. 210-213. This was the first regular military campaign into the land of the Great West, and strongly impressed the Indians of that region. Kearny's recommendations were against the establishment of a post because of the difficulty of supplying it--advising instead, a biennial or triennial campaign similar to his own.--ED.

[21] By the "Republican Fork of Blue River" Palmer intends the stream known usually as the Little Blue. Republican River, farther west, is an important branch of Kansas River, and for a portion of its course nearly parallels the Little Blue. The Oregon Trail, however, followed the latter stream, and the distances given by Palmer preclude the possibility of a detour via the Republican River. The name of this stream, as well as that applied by Palmer to the Little Blue, is derived from the tribe of Republican Pawnee, for which see our volume xiv, p. 233, note 179.--ED.

[22] There were two routes across from the head of Little Blue River to the Platte. The first left the trail near the site of Leroy, Nebraska, and came in to the Platte about twenty miles below Grand Island; the second continued farther west, about ten miles, then crossed northwest to the Platte near the site of Fort Kearney. See military map of Nebraska and Dakota, prepared in 1855-57 by Lieutenant G. K. Warren of the topographical engineer corps. For the Platte River see our volume xiv, p. 219, note 170.--ED.

[23] For this tribe, see our volume vi, p. 61, note 17; also our volume xv, pp. 143-165; and xxviii, p. 149, note 94.--ED.

[24] Thomas Fulton Stephens joined the Oregon caravan from Illinois. The year after his arrival in Oregon he took up donation land near the site of Portland and erected thereon a saw-mill. His death occurred in 1884.--ED.

[25] John Foster was born in Ohio in 1822, removed to Missouri in early life, and in 1897 was still residing in Oregon.--ED.

[26] Orville Risley was born in New York state about 1807. In early life he removed to Ohio, where he joined the Oregon emigrants of 1845. Upon reaching the Willamette valley he took up land in Clackamas County, and later was a merchant at Lafayette. In his last years he resided principally at Portland, where he was known as Judge Risley, from having once held the office of justice of the peace. His death occurred at his Clackamas farm in 1884.--ED.

[27] For the fords of the South Platte see our volume xxi, p. 173, note 27.--ED.

[28] Ash Hollow, called by Frémont Coulée des Frênes, was a well known landmark, where the Oregon Trail crossed the North Platte. It is now known as Ash Creek, in Deuel County, Nebraska.--ED.

[29] Spring Creek was probably the one now known as Rush, formed by springs issuing in Cheyenne County, Nebraska. The second creek was that now entitled Pumpkinseed. In the days of trail-travelling it was called Gonneville, from a trapper who had been killed thereon. The Solitary Tower is on its bank--a huge mass of indurated clay, more frequently known as the Court House or the Castle.--ED.

[30] For a note on Chimney Rock consult De Smet's _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 219, note 89. See also engraving in Frémont's "Exploring Tour," _Senate Docs._, 28 Cong., 2 sess., 174, p. 38.--ED.

[31] This story is told with variations by many writers, notably Washington Irving in his _Rocky Mountains_ (Philadelphia, 1837), i, pp. 45, 46. The event appears to have occurred about 1830. The range of bluffs, about nine hundred yards in length, still retains the name. It is situated on the western borders of Nebraska, in a county of the same name.--ED.

[32] The usual habitat of the Dakota or Sioux was along the Missouri River or eastward. The Teton Sioux were in the habit of wandering westward for summer hunts, and this was probably a band of the Oglala or Brulé Teton, who frequently were encountered in this region. For the Teton subdivisions see our volume xxii, p. 326, note 287.--ED.

[33] The succession of trading posts on the Laramie branch of Platte River is somewhat confusing, due to differences in nomenclature. Consult our volume xxi, p. 181, note 30. The fort here described appears to be the new Fort Laramie (which must thus have been built in 1845, not 1846). Alexander Culbertson, who was at one time in command for the American Fur Company, says that this post cost $10,000, and was the best built stronghold in the company's possession. Fort John was the old American Fur Company's post. How a rival company had secured it, seems a mystery; possibly Palmer has confused it with Fort Platte, which Frémont notes in 1842 at the mouth of the Laramie, belonging to Sybille, Adams, and Company. See his "Exploring Tour" (cited in note 30, _ante_), p. 35.--ED.

[34] Since the above was written, the North American Fur Company has purchased Fort John, and demolished it.--PALMER.

[35] The trail lay back from the river, for some distance above Fort Laramie. Big Spring was frequently known as Warm Spring, and the coulée, in Laramie County, Wyoming, still retains the name of Warm Spring Cañon.--ED.

[36] On the general use of the term Black Hills see our volume xxiii, p. 244, note 204. The stream called Fourche Amère (bitter fork) by Frémont is now known simply as Cottonwood Creek.--ED.

[37] Retaining the same name, Horseshoe Creek is a considerable wooded stream in western Laramie County, Wyoming.--ED.

[38] This is now known as Lower Platte Cañon, and is traversed by the Wyoming branch of the Colorado and Southern Railway.--ED.

[39] Big Timber Creek was called La Fourche Boisée by Frémont; more frequently it was known by the name it still retains--La Bonté Creek, in Converse County, Wyoming. The cut-off recommended by Palmer would be by way of Elkhorn Creek and an affluent of La Bonté.--ED.

[40] Deer Creek is the largest southern affluent of the Platte, between the Laramie and the Sweetwater. It is well-timbered, and its mouth was a familiar camping place on the Oregon Trail. It is in the western part of Converse County, Wyoming, about 770 miles from the starting point at Independence.--ED.

[41] The best ford in this stretch of the river; it averaged only about three feet in depth at the ordinary stage of water, and its width varied from eight hundred to fifteen hundred feet. It was a little above the present town of Casper, Wyoming.--ED.

[42] The Mineral Spring was usually called Red Spring, near Poison Spider Creek, and shows traces of petroleum. For a description of Red Buttes see our volume xxi, p. 183.--ED.

[43] For Independence Rock and Sweetwater River see our volume xxi, p. 53, notes 33, 34.--ED.

[44] For this gap, or cañon, see De Smet's _Letters_ in our