The Diaries of John Gregory Bourke Volume 2: July 29, 1876--April 7, 1878

Chapter 16. The Little Bighorn Battlefield

330฀ Chapter฀16 ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ The฀Little฀Bighorn฀Battlefield July฀14th .฀Broke฀camp,฀taking฀trail฀alongside฀of฀Mountain฀overlooking ฀Shell฀Creek.฀Had฀considerable฀฀difficulty฀in฀forcing฀a฀trail฀ through฀trees฀and฀bushes฀and฀over฀rocks฀and฀especially฀across฀ ground฀made฀miry฀by฀the฀great฀number฀of฀springs฀bubbling฀to฀the฀ surface. After฀one฀and฀[a]฀half฀miles฀march,฀found฀Shell฀creek฀at฀a฀point฀ where฀it฀had฀split฀into฀several฀channels:฀the฀largest฀some฀thirty฀feet฀ wide,฀three฀deep฀and฀with฀a฀current฀whose฀velocity฀could฀not฀have฀ been฀less฀than฀twelve฀miles฀an฀hour.฀When฀we฀had฀accomplished฀ this฀feat,฀we฀heard฀the฀booming฀and฀roaring฀of฀a฀great฀affluent฀a฀ short฀distance฀ahead฀and฀knew฀that฀our฀day’s฀labor฀had฀but฀just฀ commenced.฀This฀“affluent”,฀as฀we฀at฀first฀termed฀it,฀turned฀out฀to฀ be฀the฀main฀stream.฀It฀was฀nearly฀twenty฀five฀yards฀broad,฀two฀and฀ three฀feet฀deep฀and฀of฀an฀exceeding฀velocity,฀its฀waters฀being฀churned฀ to฀foam฀as฀they฀fretted฀along฀among฀the฀rocks฀which฀projected฀like฀ teeth฀from฀the฀bottom.฀On฀this฀account฀these฀crossings฀have฀had฀ enough฀of฀the฀element฀of฀danger฀to฀make฀them฀interesting,฀but฀up฀ to฀this฀time฀no฀disaster฀has฀occurred.฀(General฀Sandy฀Forsyth฀was฀ nearly฀drowned฀in฀No฀Wood฀creek,฀but฀I฀forgot฀to฀refer฀to฀the฀incident ฀in฀its฀proper฀place.) THE฀LITTLE฀BIGHORN฀BATTLEFIELD฀ 331 Shell฀creek฀runs฀through฀a฀wild,฀belt฀of฀rugged฀mountains,฀whose฀ flanks฀are฀covered฀with฀granite฀boulders฀of฀very฀great฀size,฀heavy฀ bodies฀of฀pine฀timber฀chock฀up฀the฀gorges฀through฀which฀tributary฀ streams฀force฀a฀passage.฀Great฀quantities฀of฀brush฀and฀fallen฀trees฀ disfigure฀the฀valley.฀While฀on฀the฀trail฀this฀morning฀crossed฀a฀dyke฀ of฀indurated฀mud฀extending฀down฀the฀hill฀side฀for฀fifty฀to฀seventy- five฀yards:฀could฀not฀discover฀its฀origin.฀A฀black฀bear฀ran฀across฀ our฀trail,฀making฀for฀the฀water.฀Frank฀Gruard฀shot฀him฀through฀ the฀hind฀quarter,฀breaking฀his฀back,฀causing฀him฀to฀fall฀across฀a฀log฀ into฀the฀current.฀General฀Sheridan฀fired฀and฀hit฀him฀back฀of฀the฀ fore-shoulder.฀I฀fired฀two฀shots,฀going฀over฀a฀little฀each฀time฀but฀my฀ third฀shot฀took฀him฀in฀the฀head฀at฀the฀intersection฀of฀the฀jaws.฀We฀ stripped฀off฀the฀skin฀and฀paws,฀but฀took฀none฀of฀the฀meat,฀which฀ smelt฀too฀strongly฀of฀the฀wild฀onions฀upon฀which฀the฀animal฀had฀ been฀feeding. The฀valley฀or฀“cañon”฀of฀Shell฀creek฀is฀remarkably฀striking:฀his฀ must฀be฀truly฀an฀impassive฀nature฀that฀could฀view฀it฀from฀the฀crest฀ of฀the฀hills฀environing฀it,฀without฀feeling฀emotions฀of฀admiration฀and฀ delight.฀The฀sides฀of฀the฀mountains฀are฀clothed฀with฀heavy฀forests,฀ most฀of฀them฀with฀trees฀graceful฀and฀verdant,฀but฀in฀many฀places฀ acres฀of฀bare฀and฀burnt฀trunks฀testify฀to฀the฀course฀of฀forest฀fires฀or฀ show฀where฀the฀lightning฀had฀struck.฀At฀some฀points,฀ragged฀rocks฀ projected฀as฀precipices฀above฀the฀timber฀at฀their฀feet:฀at฀others,฀ the฀contour฀became฀more฀gentle฀and฀was฀carpeted฀with฀grass฀and฀ sweet฀wild฀flowers.฀Regardless฀of฀the฀charms฀and฀fascinations฀of฀its฀ mountain฀home,฀the฀cold฀river฀poured฀down฀over฀the฀rocks฀eager฀to฀ reach฀the฀ocean฀and฀view฀its฀wonders.฀Having฀passed฀across฀the฀ridge฀ bounding฀this฀valley,฀we฀continued฀on฀to฀the฀North-East,฀entering฀ a฀broad฀inviting฀park,฀of฀undulating฀greensward,฀gemmed฀with฀wild฀ flowers,฀while฀clumps฀and฀forests฀of฀pine฀contrasted฀in฀their฀olive฀ green฀foliage฀with฀the฀lighter฀hue฀of฀the฀grass฀about฀them.฀The฀walls฀ of฀this฀cosy฀retreat฀were฀heavy฀buttresses฀of฀granite,฀on฀which฀broad฀ patches฀of฀snow฀still฀lingered.฀At฀the฀head฀of฀the฀park฀as฀we฀came฀ into฀it,฀was฀a฀spring,฀or฀rather฀dozen[s]฀of฀springs,฀of฀icy-cold฀water฀ which฀sought฀an฀outlet฀through฀the฀babbling฀rivulet฀which฀traversed฀ the฀valley.฀In฀this฀park฀we฀pitched฀our฀tents,฀glad฀to฀remain,฀altho’฀ our฀march฀had฀not฀been฀more฀than฀five฀or฀six฀miles. This฀valley฀is฀enclosed฀by฀two฀parallel฀ridges฀of฀the฀Big฀Horn฀ Range,฀that฀to฀the฀Eastward฀being฀the฀higher฀of฀the฀two฀and฀rather฀ 332฀ STAFF฀OFFICER more฀distant.฀I฀ascended฀the฀Western฀ridge฀having฀an฀easy฀climb฀up฀ a฀gentle฀grade,฀the฀compensation฀for฀this฀work฀lay฀in฀an฀extended฀ panoramic฀view฀of฀the฀Big฀Horn฀Valley,฀which฀stretched฀out฀beneath฀ us฀like฀a฀vast฀topographical฀chart.฀The฀river฀itself...