3d. We had an excellent road with an abundance of water and grass. I
say nothing about wood for the last thousand miles, for the reason that
we have had to do the best we could for fuel by using buffalo chips,
(Boise baches) and sage bush. We passed the Soda Springs this afternoon
and camped on the Bear River for the last time, and where the Fort Hall
road leaves the river, and about four miles from the Springs. The
Springs are situated at the point where the Bear River commences to
turn towards the south. They will undoubtedly, when the great railroad
shall have been constructed to the Pacific, become a great watering
place for the world.--It is a beautiful location. The majestic Bear
River flowing along--the snowy peaks of the Utah mountains stretching
away to the south as far as the eye can reach, while to the north can
be seen the lower ranges of the Rocky Mountains, green to their tops
with vegetation. The Springs arise on the bank of the river on a small
plain covered with cedars through which runs a clear branch of the Bear
River. To the west may be seen the bed of the old volcanoes, now a
barren plain, covered with wild sage, and dangerous to travel, on
account of the numerous chasms of unknown depths, opening their yawning
mouths on its surface. Probably there are no greater curiosities in the
world than the Soda Springs. The water from several of these springs is
equal to the best soda. We tried it with acid and produced a most
pleasant beverage. One of them called the Steamboat Spring, is a great
curiosity of itself. It has a cone shaped shaft or spout, the cavity of
which may be six or eight inches in diameter. The water rises and
recedes in this shaft every few minutes, with a noise like letting off
steam on a steamboat, hence its name. There are also Sulphur Springs,
and springs containing other minerals, and five miles back in the hills
is a Sulphur Lake. We have had a pleasant summer day to-day, although
the mountain-tops are covered with snow. We have had a light shower
this afternoon, for the first time since we crossed the Rocky
Mountains. We found an Indian village at the Soda Springs, with one or
two Frenchmen. They were Shoshonees or Snakes, and very intelligent
looking Indians.