The Kintner Letters; An Astronomer's Account of the Wheeler Survey in Utah and Idaho

The Kintner Letters: An Astronomer's Account of the Wheeler Survey in Utah and Idaho

INTRODUCTION BY RUSSELL E. BIDLACK AND EDITORIAL NOTATIONS BY EVERETT L. COOLEY

No historical study of the geography of the Western States can fail to take cognizance of the pioneer work done by the so-called Wheeler Survey. In 1869 the United States Army, with a view toward mapping the West for military purposes, sent First Lieutenant George M. Wheeler of the Corps of Engineers on a brief reconnaissance through southern and southeastern Nevada. Wheeler continued the work in the spring of 1871, and on June 10, 1872, Congress appropriated $75,000 to broaden the project. Thus was created the "Geographical Survey West of the One Hundredth Meridian" whose main purpose it was to map the territory now comprising the western portions of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas; the Rocky Mountain States; and the Pacific States. Although the Survey was to be primarily geographical, Wheeler was also directed to gather data on the geological features of the region, along with its botanical and zoological characteristics, and to report upon the various mining operations then in progress. Costing a total of $805,340, the work continued until 1879, the year in which the U.S. Geological Survey was established, although Wheeler did not publish his final report until 1889.

During the eight years that the "Geographical Survey West of the One Hundredth Meridian" was in progress, dozens of scientists, technicians, and laborers were employed — some for a season, others for the life of the project. Although the names of these individuals have been largely forgotten, their work constituted an important step in the opening of the West.

One of the men employed by Lieutenant Wheeler was Charles J. Kintner, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. With the title of assistant astronomer, Kintner was associated with the Survey during the last two years of its operation. Shortly after his arrival in Ogden, Utah, in May 1877, Kintner wrote the first of a series of 10 letters explaining his work and describing the country and the inhabitants of the West. For his friends back home, Kintner's letters provided an informative glimpse of a remote and little known part of their growing nation; today his letters constitute an informative footnote to the history of the West.

With the expectation that they would be published, Kintner addressed his letters to the editor of a weekly newspaper called the Ann Arbor Register. Letters of local citizens journeying in faraway places frequently appeared in nineteenth-century newspapers, especially the weeklies published in small towns. In fact, editors who could seldom afford to send reporters beyond the borders of their own county, often relied upon friends at scenes of action to supply news that, otherwise, would simply have to be copied from other papers. Or, learning that an interesting letter had been received by someone in the community, the local editor often prevailed upon the recipient to share its contents with his neighbors. This custom did not die with the coming of the telegraph nor is it unheard of even today. Thousands of letters from soldiers in the War with Mexico and the Civil War have been preserved in this way, along with first-hand accounts of such events as the Gold Rush of 1849 and the Kansas struggle for freedom in the 1850's. Detailed descriptions of European tours, trips to the nation's capital, and, in 1876, visits to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, thus found their way into print. Where files of the newspapers have been preserved, these letters provide primary source material for some of the most dramatic developments in our nation's history. They also frequently provide the local historian with a glimpse into the private lives of some of the community's most prominent citizens of the past.

Charles Jacob Kintner was born on a farm in Harrison County, Indiana, on April 19, 1848. At an early age he decided against following his father's occupation, having discovered "that the glorious tints of the morning sun as seen upon the 'cloudlets' have no beauty to the boy who is forced to follow the drudgery of farm life .... I learned in early life to look with envious eyes upon the short hours of labor which fall to the lot of city people and resolved to obtain an education and follow professional life."

After completing a preparatory course at New Albany, Indiana, under the tutelage of Professor O. Tousley, Kintner matriculated at the University of Michigan in 1866. He majored in chemical engineering and immediately upon graduation in 1870 entered the university's observatory as assistant to Professor James C. Watson, one of America's leading astronomers of the nineteenth century. (It was in 1870 that Watson was awarded the Lalande Gold Medal by the French Academy of Science for his discovery of six asteroids in one year.) Watson was active in Michigan politics, and it was doubtless through his influence that, in 1876, Kintner became the successful candidate, on the Democratic ticket, for the office of recorder of the City of Ann Arbor. One year later, however, Kintner's political career was terminated by his failure to win election to the office of county superintendent of schools. There can also be little doubt but that Kintner received his appointment to the Wheeler Survey in 1877 through the aid of Professor Watson; certainly his chief qualification for the position was his six years of association with the professor. Likewise, Watson was probably responsible for Kintner's writing letters for publication in the Register, for Watson was one of the paper's proprietors.

According to frequent notices in Ann Arbor's weekly newspapers of the 1870's, Charles Kintner was recognized as one of the community's leading sportsmen. As a fisherman he was the town's champion. His letters written while on the Wheeler Survey attest to this interest in the out-of-doors. In an autobiographical sketch written in 1903, Kintner credited his enthusiasm for "athletic sports," especially rowing and swimming, with having kept him "vigorous and healthy." In 1895 he was "captain of the team which won the world's championship at water polo."

With the discontinuance of the Wheeler Survey in 1879, Kintner found employment in the United States Patent Office. In 1887 he entered upon the practice of patent law with offices at Philadelphia and New York and quickly established an enviable reputation as a patent expert in the field of electrical engineering. Upon retirement shortly before World War I, he returned to Ann Arbor where he died on July 7, 1921.

Kintner's first letter upon joining the Wheeler Survey was written on May 14, 1877; his last was written on December 26 of the same year. Why the series ended with the tenth letter is not known — the editor of the Register gave no explanation. Perhaps Kintner himself grew tired of the chore or concluded that his readers' curiosity regarding his work and the West had been satisfied. Whatever the reason, these appear to be the only Kintner letters whose contents survive. He left no descendants.

Editors of the Register:

Ogden, Utah Ter., May 14, 1877.*

After having spent five days on the cars one cannot be expected to write in the happiest strain imaginable. Nevertheless, as opportunity now offers, I will give you a short letter concerning this country and things in general referance [sic] thereto.

I arrived here last evening at six o'clock having had a most delightful trip and enjoyed as much as the heart could ask the grandest scenery on the American continent; to attempt a description of which would at best, be but a beggardly affair. The glories of Echo Canon, Weber Canon, Devil's Slyde [Slide] and a hundred other of nature's wonderful works in these glorious old mountains, wrinkled by centuries of time are utterly beyond description by human devices, and all the paintings or descriptions of them utterly fail to produce the grand effect of their lasting presence. The blue Pyrenese may bring forth rapturous acclamations of wondor [sic], or the Alps of lonely Switzerland produce awe and wonder, but certainly none of them, no, nor do I believe all of them can produce one single scene to compare with the Devil's Gate and one or two other points in Weber Canon.

This canon begins sixty-six miles east of here at an elevation of 7835 feet above the sea and the U.P.R.R. follows its grand descent of meanderings to this point, making a total descent of 3,500 feet, or 53 feet per mile.

The most of the country from here to Laramie is alkali and utterly useless except for grazing, but is inferior in that respect to the grand plains east of that point in Nebraska, which, let me add in passing, abound in prairie chickens, ducks, geese, and all kinds of fowl which can be seen in easy shooting distance from the windows, and we saw thousands of them on the South Platte river along which the road runs from Omaha through the entire length of Nebraska.

After leaving Laramie we saw antelope in droves skipping over the plains, and further on this way an occasional gray wolf, while the coyotes were thick as leaves in autumn. When I say leaves in autumn, you must understand it as refering to Michigan, for that would be a sad simile here, not having seen a green tree, and, in fact scarce a tree of any kind after leaving Omaha till we reached the famous Thousand Mile Tree one thousand miles west of Omaha.

The living is extremely good as we found, and all the delicacies of the season can be found in the middle of this great desert. But the rather exorbitant price of one dollar is charged per meal; and let us here advise persons coming westward never to bring lunch, as they will certainly find it disagreeable, and as all our party and myself did, will throw it away in disgust. Meals are cooked in the best of style, and brook trout, strawberries and innumerable delicacies will be found at most of the meal stations.

Ogden is a city of seven thousand inhabitants, but is properly about as large as Dexter. In order to understand how it contains so many inhabitants it is necessary to understand that Brigham and his apostles look after the incorporating of villages and cities, and they always incorporate all the surrounding country for ten or fifteen miles so as to bring as many as possible under city taxation and thus exact an additional tax upon them. Thus Salt Lake City is in reality about as large as Ann Arbor, but the corporal limits make the population 25,000. This is truly a beautiful valley and extends as far as the eye can reach, being bounded on every side by mountains capped with snow; and as I write I can see from my window a range of peaks at whose base this beautiful little city sleeps so peacefully, whose caps are covered with snow, and the sun makes them glisten with glorious dazzling light.

They look as if they were but a half mile away at least, but the agent says they are five miles and I must take his word for it, for yesterday they told me that some peaks we were admiring were only 80 miles away in Colorado, whereupon I remarked, I should have to change the focus of my eyesight or else I should be near-sighted on returning to Michigan. A good joke is told in this connection on an Englishman, who, with some parties here, started to walk to the mountains and back before breakfast. After having walked an hour the Englishman, who was in advance, sat down by a small brook and commenced to take off his clothes. Upon being asked what he was doing, he replied: "Hi am going to swim this blasted river and reach that mountain if it takes all day." It is certainly very remarkable what a magnificent atmosphere abounds here, and snow capped mountains can readily be seen a hundred miles away.

The land here is black and with just enough sand to make it easy to manage and grows excellent wheat, fruits and vegetables. Potatoes are worth 60 cents per bushel and I never saw finer in Michigan. Wheat 75 cents per bushel, vegetables, etc. in proportion. All the farming is done by irrigation, and the water is brought in ditches and pipes from the mountains, one stream supplying several farms. Stock raising is the prominent feature both here and between here and Omaha. Some of the herds number from ten to fifteen thousand.

I ran down to Salt Lake to-day to see the place, and will give you the particulars of my visit in my next, and write up Mormondom in general, about which I have learned a great deal that you in the east know nothing. Suffice it to say there is bitter hatred here between the Mormons and the gentiles, and all go well armed. The Nauvoo legions are dwelling all over the Territory, but no trouble is anticipated.

You may expect to hear from me often; and in conclusion, let me add, that no Ann Arbor people must pass Ogden without calling on me under penalty of death.

C.J.K.

Ogden, Utah Ter.,* May 28, 1877.

Editor of the Register:

In my last I promised you the next letter should be a general history of the Mormons and Mormondom; but after consultation with some of the older inhabitants, have, at their suggestion, deferred the matter until I shall have had time to look more fully into the intricacies of the case; for they inform me that the Mormon machine is fearfully and wonderfully made, and that their system of government through the union of church and state, can only be learned by careful study.

But allow me to say while upon this subject, that the great hue and cry which has been raised of late about a Mormon uprising is, in my humble opinion, simply ridiculous, and is but the outgrowth of a desire on the part of certain Gentiles to increase their business in furnishing supplies to the troops that might be sent on here. The Mormons have been exceedingly kind and courteous to us, and have used every effort to aid and protect us in our work, and only yesterday, during the conference here, Brigham enjoined his people not to molest our flags on the base line which runs through the principal street of the city; also, to give such aid and protection as we might need.

And now I will endeavor to give your readers some idea of what we propose to do, and how we are located; in short, a general history of the summer's campaign. The expedition is under the immediate charge of 1st Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler, of the corps of Engineers, U.S.A., and will be divided the coming season into three parties, as follows : First, the Colorado section, rendezvous at Fort Lyon, Colorado, on the Arkansas; second, the Utah section, at Ogden; and Third, the California section, at Carson City. There will be six regularly organized parties, which will prosecute surveys in a systematized form extending over belts of country measured by triangulation. An additional special base-measuring party will be occupied here for about three months under the direction of Dr. Kampf, Prof. Rock and myself, after which we shall go to Old California and determine certain prominent astronomical points for future use.

There are about seventy-five persons on the survey, of which number about ten will stay here during most of the coming summer, and this point will be Lieut. Wheeler's headquarters.

And now as to the object of the survey and the mode of procedure. In the first place, the main object is to correctly map all of this great western country, meander its streams, measure its mountains, and in short, obtain all the valuable information that so large a tract must necessarily possess. Secondly, there are vast mining interests here, about which comparatively little is known, and it is also the object of the survey to ascertain all the facts relative thereto.

In a geodetic and geographic survey, the first thing necessary is to locate and measure what is called a base line, and that is what we have been doing for the past week.

Our base line lies along the foot of the mountains, and passes through Ogden city, extending two-and-a-quarter miles each way from the city, and is first measured twice over its entire length by a compensated steel tape line, adjustable for heat and cold. Then it will be measured twice more by a woodon [sic] rod with adjustable scales at each end, giving a reading to the nearest thousandth of an inch, and the temperature being read at each setting, so that the final determination of the length of the base should be within one-tenth of an inch. Piers are then built at each end of the line, both of which are visible from the observatory, from which their geographical position is determined. Then comes the interesting feature, viz: mountain climbing on mule back, of which you shall learn more after I have had some experience. They told me it is a very interesting adventure, particularly with a "bucking" mule. After reaching the highest peaks in sight, the angles are determined relative to the piers, and with these and the already accurately measured base, the sides of triangles are ascertained and the geographical position of the mountain determined. Using one of the sides of a triangle thus obtained as a base, and other peaks as points, one can readily see how the triangulation is extended until triangles are determined whose sides are one hundred miles and even one hundred and fifty miles in length. The remarkable atmosphere is a great advantage in this triangulation, as with a good transit instrument it is no trouble when the atmosphere is quiet, to sight monuments on the mountain tops seventy-five and one hundred miles away. The topographers then take this extended base, as one of these sides is called, and with an odometer, a transit, a sextent, a barometer and chronometer, are ready to proceed. The odometer is a one-wheeled wagon on which is an instrument for recording distance, and is drawn by a mule. And in passing let me add that we are honored with the presence of Secretary Thompson's son and the relatives of several other distinguished politicians, who expect to ride odometer mules the coming season.

These field parties are under the direction of officers of the regular army, and report to Lieut. Wheeler once a month, when the observations are sent in to be carefully worked up and the data compiled for the winter's office work at Washington. The whole survey is admirably managed, and a thorough system of checks is instituted, whereby the most accurate results are obtained.

Our corps here is located on the south side of Weber river, on a bend overlooking Ogden and with Great Salt Lake in the distance. On the whole it is a beautiful situation, surrounded as we are by snow-capped peaks and magnificent canons in the distance. To the south of us lies Salt Lake City forty miles away on the great plain in the beautiful valley, well named by the Mormons, as the "Promised Land." The observatory, just back of the camp, was built in 1873, by the government and is a brick building about 45 feet long and 16 feet in breadth. It is well built and has a fine transit room with telegraphic connection east and west; also, an equatorial and a computing room. The dome has not been completed for the equatorial, but I believe it is the intention to complete it the coming summer. Both the camp and the observatory are plainly visible from the depot, being only a half mile away, and as the trains stop an hour and a half here, I trust none of my friends who may chance to pass through, will fail to call on me.

I shall endeavor to keep you posted of our proceedings from time to time, but inasmuch as this is a very unstable kind of life, I cannot promise much regularity in my letters; but circumstances permitting, I will endeavor to write something of interest as opportunity offers.

C J K

Camp Number Eleven,* Bear Lake Valley, Idaho,

July 8, 1877. [June 28]

To the Editor of the Register.

It was my intention to write you another letter before leaving Ogden, but extra work was required of me in order to finish the base measurement so that I might report to Lieut. Tilman, chief of party No. 1 at Franklin, Idaho, June the 25th.

I left Ogden Monday, June the 25th for that point, via. the Utah Northern R.R., a narrow gauge road running between those two points, the distance being by rail eighty miles, and about twenty miles in a direct line. It traverses some beautiful scenery and winds around the foot of the mountains like a great snake, gradually ascending until at Hampton Station, on the summit one finds he has reached a point from which all the Great Salt Lake and its adjacent valleys can be plainly seen. The scenery is truly beautiful and the great lake lies shimmering and glistening in the sunlight like a great sea of mercury, while the deep blue back-ground made up of the mountains over a hundred miles away adds very much to the effect, but best of all is the sight of the hundreds of comfortable homes that look like mere specks in the distance and the comforting thought that here is room for thousands of our fellow beings to earn a livelihood if they will but labor.

But the bell taps "all aboard" and now we go over the "divide," as the summit is called, and down the mountain, winding around sharp curves through deep cuts and under high precipices, until after a descent of two thousand feet we find ourselves in the great Cash [Cache] Valley, the land of "milk and honey" of all Mormondom. It lies between two ranges of mountains and is as level as a table and has a total area of 700,000 acres. There are about 20,000 inhabitants who live almost excessively [exclusively] in villages. This system was adopted during the earlier settlements in order to be more secure against the Indian attacks, and I see no reason why it has not vast advantages over the solitary mode adopted by our eastern farmers, inasmuch as the children can be educated at less expense to say nothing of the advantages to be gained by society and closer communication.

The inhabitants of this valley are almost exclusively Mormons and are a hard working, thrifty people, who deserve a great deal of credit for their industry and for having braved the dangers of Indian warfare in order to settle this then desolate waste. All the farming is done by irrigation and the mountains furnish an inexhaustible supply of water for the whole valley.

The villages are nestled close up under the mountains, and as one descends from Hampton they present a beautiful contrast to the green fields covered with vast herds of stock. Nine of these villages can be counted at once from the cars and nearly all of them are as large as Dexter.

But the one peculiar feature to be admired most of all in these villages is the fact that on every street throughout the entire year can be found a running stream of clear, cool, mountain water, so that past every mans door moves a living admonisher to be temperate, and I need not add that these same Mormons are the most temperate people in the world. These streams are taken from the water sects [ducts?] and when any one desires to water his garden he simply opens his water gate and lets it flow in, closing it again after a sufficient quantity has been admitted. We arrived at Franklin at 4:30, having been seven hours going eighty miles, here we found good quarters and set down to a supper not surpassed by any of your eastern hotels for variety or quality.

Franklin is just over the borders of Utah, and until within a few years was supposed to be in Utah, but more recent surveys located it in Idaho. It is a Mormon town of about 1,500 inhabitants and lies at the extreme north-western corner of Cash Valley. I found Lieut. Tilman with a packer and four mules awaiting me and now begins my first experience at mountain climbing.

We left Franklin for the camp situated near Bear Lake at 6:30 A.M. and followed the trail via. Cubb [Cub] river for fifteen miles, when we came to the base of the range, then came some climbing in earnest, up, up we go single file, the packer and mules in front, and so steep is it that if a mule should make a misstep away he will go tumbling for a thousand feet.

We had several of them tumble and one rolled over two thousand feet with a pack, breaking a leg which necessitated his being shot. And strange to say, the transit instrument was thrown in its box from the pack twenty feet into the air and was recovered uninjured. Well we must go again for we will have to stop many times before we reach the top, and as we stop will read our aneroid and see how high we are. Down, down goes the mercury, indicating respectively attitudes [altitudes] of six, seven, and finally at the top eight thousand three hundred feet. Here we are on top and grand indeed is the sight, one hundred and fifty miles away can be seen the southern extremity of Great Salt Lake and under our feet almost are dozens of peaks that look like mole hills. The wind is blowing a gale and we must put on our overcoats for now commences

the descent on the north side. But how shall we get down, for there is snow, snow "everywhere." After looking around we find that we must cross it or go down and around; but will it hold the mules? Yes, but we must walk. We find, however, the pack mule breaks through, and we must unpack him. So your humble servant ties a rope to each of his two bundles, and sitting astride one and drawing the other behind, away he goes as in his school days, down, down like the lightning express for two hundred feet and the others follow after, sliding, however, "a la natural" and leaving the mules to follow after, which they will do every time. On this mountain we found the red snow which you have doubtless read of as having been seen by arctic explorers. It is not snow but is vegetable matter which is formed upon the mountain side and blows over the surface of the snow. It looks very much like oxide of iron upon the white snow, or perhaps I might say like copper filings. Lieut. Tilman informs me that is the first he ever saw in this western country.

The snow in many places was from twenty to thirty feet deep, and it may be a source of wonder how we passed over safely; but it forms a crust on top like ice and rarely breaks through, although such accidents do occur. It is amusing to watch the mules feel their way over the crust with cat-like steps, showing a sagacity that is remarkable, but I shall speak more of this in another letter, as I find my letter growing longer than your space will permit. After reaching the bottom and packing up, away we go down the canon five miles away to camp, where we find anxious faces awaiting us for mails and late papers. Ignorant are the entire camp of the Indian war and all news in general for four weeks, and as isolated from all civilization as though in the heart of Africa. We get our mail once in two weeks but can send out oftener. Are at present camped near Bear Lake, which is the most beautiful lake I ever saw, and abounds in fish innumerable. As a sample we had a six pound trout for dinner yesterday. We leave this camp to-morrow and will meander Bear Lake and survey the territory on the east side of the same.

There are nine of us in this party and I will give you in my next a general idea of the function of each and a description of the outfit and our future course and intentions. I am here to complete the triangulation developed from the base we measured at Ogden, but do not know how long it will take. May possibly get back to Ogden in a month, or it may take the whole season, depending entirely on the country and the facilities we may have in the shape of roads and transportation.

C J K

Logan Canon, Utah Ter.,* Camp No. 17, July 5, 1877.

Editor of Register:

In my last letter written you from St. Charles, Idaho, I promised you a description of party No. 1, which I had just joined. It consists of Samuel E. Tilman, 1st Lieut. U. S. Engineers, in charge; Gilbert Thompson, Topographer; Jno. A. Hasson, Meteorologist; Wm. Loram, assistant Meteorologist, and myself as assistant Topographer and field Astronomer. There are two packers, one cook and a man of all work, making nine persons in all. We have eleven pack mules, nine riding mules and a bell mare.

And now let us break camp, and suppose you accompany us on an immaginary [sic] trip from camp No. 11 to camp 17, our present location.

It is 5:30 a.m., and the melodius voice of our stalwert [sic] Irish cook bellows forth in stentorian notes, "Get ready for breakfast." With towel and soap in hand, we find our way to the babling [sic] brook which, with its merry music bids us good morning and gladly grants us a portion of its cooling waters wherewith to perform our morning ablutions. Breakfast is ready, and around the festive board are gathered eight individuals whose back-woods appearance bids you beware of them; but fear them not, for oftentimes the best of hearts are hidden beneath the breasts of those whose appearance is not the most inviting.

Our table is spread upon the green grass with the blue canopy of heaven for a roof and the grand old mountains are our picture, while an appetite which dispeptics [sic] never know makes us relish the bacon and beans and bread without butter and coffee without milk. But this is an exceptional meal with us, for the streams abound with brook trout and not a day has passed since my connection with the party, that we have not had enough mountain grouse or other game for all of the party. I have killed several grouse, and nearly all of them were as large as common chickens, and are very much the same flavor when cooked.

But breakfast is over and we must be on the move. Each man must roll up his own tent and bedding and prepare it for the pack mule; also must catch, bridle and saddle his own mule.

Within half an hour after breakfast is over, the party have all left. First goes the Lieutenant, who chooses the route and selects the camping ground. Then follows the meteorologist, then the topographer and myself, who meander the trails and roads, take the bearings of peaks, and take all the topography that can be seen from the trail or road. Last of all comes the pack train, and a comical sight it is to one who never saw one. The man of all work rides in front of the train and leads the bell mare, her sole duty being that of a general mother to the whole brood. It is laughable to see how they will strive to get near to her, and to note how fond (?) she is in return by dealing them kicks, thus bidding them keep their distance.

Thus we are all under way and away we go down the canon to St. Charles, a little Mormon village on the shores of Bear Lake. We roamed the head of the lake all day long admiring its beautifully clear waters and expatiating upon the surroundings. Some of the older members of the party who have been several years in the field, say it is the most beautiful sheet of water they ever saw.

We found by our meander that it is about thirty miles long with an average width of ten miles. At last it is time to camp, and here we are in grassy plateau just on the lake shore. All of us are but too glad to rest after a long ride of twenty miles. The mules are turned loose to graze, the mother of the brood being hobbled to keep her from leading them off.

Supper over, we gather around the camp fire and as the sparks roll upwards and the bright blazing fire sends forth its genial warmth, we little heed the time spent in telling camp stories and camp experience. A fire you say, in July? Yes, we have fire every night, and seldom during the day does the temperature exceed 70° Fahrenheit. Just think of it, while you, at Ann Arbor, are sweltering with the intolerable heat, we are having an average temperature of about 60° or 65°, and the latitude is south of you, too, bear in mind, while you are wondering how you can sleep when it is so hot, we are sleeping under four or five blankets and wake up some mornings to find ice in our basins. This difference in temperature is occasioned by the difference in altitude, our altitude here being on an average about six thousand feet above the sea level, while your altitude is scarcely as many hundred feet.

But a night so delightfully cool soon slips away and we must up and be going. The packer informs us four of our mules have strayed, and breakfast being over, all go out to search. At last they are found five miles up the lake, brought back, packed and away we go again.

To-day we reach the head of the lake, and from this point it presents its grandest effects. The waves are rolling in upon the beach in long blue lines as far as the eye can see, and looking northward and length-wise of the lake, it is truly grand. A deep blue bank of water seems to stand up against the mountains, and the snow-capped peaks rise up out of its bosom like great ice bergs.

Here in this little valley at the foot of the mountains, near the head, is Lake Port, a little village most beautifully situated, and one day will become a city of no small dimensions; for with such land as here abounds it cannot fail to grow rapidly. Passing around the head of the lake, we now go northward, our course so far having been toward the south. On the east side we find the mountains coming close out to the lake and of sand stone formation, and their red sides bring vividly to our memory Hugh Miller's "Old Red Sand Stone."

We camp twice on the east side and visit one peak 7000 feet high, from which all the surrounding country on that side is taken.

Now we cross over the neck which separates Bear Lake from a small lake at the north end called Small Bear Lake, and again we are at St. Charles. Away we sped [speed] bearing south-west and destined for Logan canon. Up, up we go, through St. Charles canon, until the divide is reached, and here we would like to camp, for we are all very tired, having been traveling up grade since ten a.m., and it is now five p.m., but we do not camp till wood, grass and water are reached; three very necessary articles in camp life. So we go on down the canon for miles and at last the glad tidings are sent back the line that water is reached and wood and grass abundant. Up goes a shout and soon all is quiet in the mountain camp, and not a sound is heard save the creak, creak of the great mountain pines swaying in the wind.

The next day, after getting under headway, we kill a bear, and luckily it is July 3d, and we can have a game dinner in earnest on the Fourth. On we go down, down, until night again falls upon us and we find a camp close by the river. The glorious Fourth dawns upon us and we arise filled with that patriotism known only to Americans. Each man fires a round from his revolver and toasts are drank [sic] in honor of the 101st year of our American independence, and to the American eagle — proud bird of freedom, in whose mountain fastness we greet him and do reverence to him as you of the East cannot do with all your array.

After breakfast we climb a peak near the camp and make a station. Up we go, winding back and forth along the sides of the mountain, until after three hours of climbing our faithful mules have brought us to the top, and then what a sight for the Fourth of July. Snow, snow, as far as the eye can see along the range. The wind blowing a gale and the thermometer registering 50° to 55°. Think of that Mr. Editor and then draw forth your bandanna, wipe your reeking brow and sigh for this land of pure delight.

We plant the star spangled banner and give three cheers for liberty, our country and our flag. Our duties concluded, down we go again to camp and to a dinner fit for the gods. Thus passed the Fourth with us. We are now camped about twenty miles from Logan, and will cross the mountains in a few days to Bear Lake again.

In the future I shall give you the details of our progress from my journal, thus keeping you posted from day to day as we go forward. Our next mail station is Sodo [Soda] Springs, about fifty miles north of here. We shall reach it about the 12th inst, but I shall try and send another communication previous to our arrival there.

C.J.K.

To the Editor of the Register:

Camp No. 24, Idaho* July 17, 1877.

We left camp 17 after a stop of two days and passed on down the Logan canon about fifteen miles. As we descended the canon the scenery became more grand and the river continued to enlarge through the addition of side streams so that we found the bridges in many places gone and the fording extremely hazardous to the pack train.

At one place a large addition is made to the river by a spring that pours right out of the mountain a volume of clear cold water whose temperature is 38°. It is the grandest spring I ever saw and pours forth as much water as does the whole Huron river in the summer season. We discovered two caves near camp 18 and explored them both, neither of them being of any importance however. On the morning of the 6th two of us started to meander the canon from camp 18 to Logan City, in Cash Valley. We left camp about 6:30, expecting the distance to be about ten miles, as shown by previous barometric readings and the fall of the river, but were very much discouraged to find it was eighteen miles. However, the scenery in a large measure compensated for our disappointment, for Logan canon presents some of the finest canon scenery in the country. Great perpendicular walls on either side, two thousand feet high, here and there a great rock weighing hundreds of tons stands tottering on the very verge as though ready to crush us, and further on, the whole side of the mountain bristling with sharp jutting rocks standing one, two, and sometimes three hundred feet in the air, making the mountain look like a great cathedral, brown with age. One can form a thousand fanciful ideas among those old rocks, and I sometimes think here is the place from whence was drawn the idea of air-castles, or where have crept away in silence all the fairies of our childhood to await that time when we shall be "sans eyes, sans teeth, sans everything."

As we passed down this canon we came to marks of civilization, where the natives from below were wielding the axe in felling timber, which is rolled into the river and floated to the mills below. The river from this point on goes rushing on with wild madness, roaring, pouring, much after the style at Lodore. It is beautiful to behold as it flows wildly on, now dashing madly around a bend, against the hard lime-stone wall which turns it in its course and gives it new impetus to tumble over the great rocks in its path. Then there comes a series of flat rocks over which it pours in thin films, looking like great fountains at play, and so beautifully transparent is the water that every pebble and every fish can be seen distinctly. Near the mouth of the canon, at the top of the righ[t] hand bluff is a castle, which we named "Castle Rock." It is far superior to Castle Rock on the U.P.R.R., as its formation is perfect. There are two immense arches on each side and one in front, besides a large skylight in the top. One can see through in all directions, and the arches are as perfect as though made by the hand of man.

We reached Logan about 1 P.M., and after a brief rest returned to camp full weary with our long day's ride. The next day the whole party broke camp and all started over the mountains to Lake Port on Bear Lake, which I have before described. Following all day an old Indian trail which was so blind we lost it many times, but at last brought up about 5 P.M. at Meadowville, one mile from Bear Lake, where we camped for one day and two nights, then on again via Lake Port up Erauston [Evanston] canon to the divide of the range on the south-east side of Bear Lake and down the slope on the other side to Bear river, which is a stream that takes its rise in Wyoming, and after an extremely tortuous existence looses itself in the bosom of [Great] Salt Lake at Conine [Corinne]. It has an average width of about three hundred feet and a depth of about six feet, with a gentle current and may some day be available [navigable], as it is navigable for fair sized steamers.

Camps 20, 21, 22 and 23 were all upon this river which we continued to follow down until within about ten miles of Montpelier, where we thought best to ford. The train was unpacked and the outfit ferried over, while the mules were forced to swim. Safely over, all packed, and on we went, camping for night, and the next day's march bringing us to Montpelier, a little Mormon village of a few dozen inhabitants. Here we saw Indians for the first time. A band of about fifty Soshones [sic] and their squaws, papooses, ponies, etc., and a rough, filthy looking set they were. They were trading furs etc., with the dealers of the town. I asked one of them if he was an Uncle Sam Indian? He said, "no, Sam no good."

We see plenty of them now and they hang around camp to get something to eat or to beg anything. We are camped at present about four miles up Montpelier canon, on a beautiful mountain brook which fairly bristles with trout, and within two hours after making camp two of the party had caught sixty of the speckled beauties. In the two days we have been here, these two men have caught two hundred and ten. I cannot imagine a more tempting sight to the eye of an epicure than to see as I saw last evening a hundred of those little speckled beauties kicking about on the grass beside the crystally clear brook. I have wished a hundred times that I could transport some of them as they are to Ann Arbor in order that you might enjoy them. But trout is not the only delicacy we have, as we dine on antelope steaks now, two having been killed on Bear river, where we saw plenty of them.

Yesterday we saw four deer and a bear, and the Lieutenant saw one elk. We leave here to-morrow and will reach Soda Springs, Saturday, and learn some news from home. Think of it, four weeks and not a word from the outside world. You of the far east may have declared war for aught we know. You may expect to hear from me again at Soda Springs.

C.J.K.

Soda Springs, Idaho,*July 20, 1877.

To the Editor of the Register.

On the 17th we left Montpelier canon having been encamped there three days, during which time a side party was formed who visited Bear peak, the tallest peak in the ranges about Bear lake, and, in fact the tallest peak yet visited this season, its altitude being ten thousand feet above sea level, and from its summit could be seen all the territory we shall go over during the season.

Our course after coming out of Montpelier canon was due north, along the edge of Bear river valley, and we passed in our journey hither several little Mormon villages occupied almost exclusively by herdsmen. These villages, as do most of the Mormon settlements, present a decidedly crude appearance, being built of log cabins and covered in most instances with dirt, a guard I learn against the Indians until recently. The land down the Bear river valley is excellent and a great portion of it immediately adjoining the river can be cultivated without irrigation. There are millions of acres here of tillable land and the only obstacle is the labor required to irrigate.

As we approach this end of the valley extending from Bear lake to Soda Springs, the land becomes more rolling and the projecting rocks indicate intense heat, being of basaltic formation. Here in the vicinity of Soda Springs are hugh [sic] piles of this baslatic [sic] rock indicating an immense upheaval sometime in the remote past. And now a description of the famous Soda Springs will be of peculiar interest to you. They are situated about the base of the mountains at the head of Bear lake valley. I do not know exactly how many there are, but our party have visited two of the larger springs within a short distance of our camp, situated on Soda creek. Last evening I visited the larger one situated about half a mile from here. On nearing the spring a gurgling, hissing sound was heard. When we came within fifty yards, and as I came nearer, I saw several little mountain geysers which spouted the water up a foot or two.

For a radius of fifty feet around the main spring the sod is perforated with these little geysers which hiss, bubble and gurgle like a great pot of boiling water. The ground was covered with dead blackbirds, killed, as I afterwards ascertained, by the carbonic acid gas which is emitted continually from the springs. Some of the springs are nothing but a boiling mass of mud which bubbles away constantly. Others are of a yellowish cast; but the main spring is the great curiosity, being about twenty feet in diameter, it boils and hisses away like a great boiling caldron. The water is perfectly clear, and as it boils up, the escaping gas makes it sparkle in the sun like millions of diamonds. It flows out of the green sod and a stream runs from it large enough to turn a mill. The gurgling and hissing, as I stood in this network of springs, reminded me of wash days at my old country home and brought to memory many a long forgotten incident of boyhood days.

The water has a sharp, sweet taste and is very agreeable to the taste, but must be taken directly from the spring to obtain the full effect. It is impregnated with iron and undoubtedly has many excellent medical qualities.

It is very amusing to see a person attempt to drink from the spring if he doesn't understand the peculiarities of the case. If he attempts to draw his breath while drinking[,] his nostrils and throat are filled with a gass [sic] not unlike amonia [sic] in its effect, and it is by this gas I infer that so many birds have been killed in the immediate vicinity of the spring. So much for the great Soda Springs, and I have no doubt but the day is not far distant when they will be a great health resort, as there is water in abundance to supply thousands of invalids. We are now in the midst of the Indians, and as I write, one is taking breakfast. No trouble has been anticipated so far, as they are regarded as friendly to the white man; but on our arrival here we learned that the people were admonished by the authorities at Fort Hall to be on their guard and never to go out unarmed, as they are a treacherous set and not to be trusted. There are two or three hundred of them camped within about a mile of us, but we anticipate no trouble whatever. The difficulty with us is we are unable to keep posted in regard to the Indian war and do not know what movements are being made by the warlike tribes. However, we are well armed, and will make a strong fight if they attack us. The great trouble is they have no love for surveyors at best, and would be sure to ferret us out should trouble once commence.

We shall be here several days and replenish our diminished supplies before starting on again — when a circuit will be made embracing all the territory for fifty miles south-east of us and then bring up again at this point, after which we will work toward Fort Hall, reaching there about September 10th, and then, after a short delay, start back toward Ogden, at which point all the parties will assemble and disband for the season about November 15, unless drawn in sooner by adverse weather.

C.J.K.

[To Be Continued in Spring Quarterly]

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