Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (21) View all

Glimpses of our National Monuments

items 60 of 80 items
  • wcu_great_smoky_mtns-10711.jpg
Item
?

Item’s are ‘child’ level descriptions to ‘parent’ objects, (e.g. one page of a whole book).

  • 54 OUR NATIONAL MONUMENTS North Platte Valley, six towns with many miles of surrounding irrigated acres of green alfalfa, golden grain, and other crops greet the eye. This promontory and the hills adjoining on the west are remnants of the general high plains constituting much of the western part of the State of Nebraska. In the Bad Lands at the north base of Scotts Bluff, and between it and the North Platte River, erosion has bared the fossil remains of mammoth turtles, the three-toed horse, the Miocene camel, and various other mammals of prehistoric age. The first white men to observe and use this landmark were the returning Astorians under Robert Stuart, who in 1812 established a winter camp near-by. It is presumed this camp was about 4 or 5 miles north of the Bluff in Cottonwood Grove on what was then the north side of the river but which later became an island. A hand- forged ax, presumed to have been used by the Astorians, was found buried here in the sand near cottonwoods of the third generation, the stumps of the first and second growth trees attesting to the use to which man put them. The Astorians remained in camp here from December 29,1812, until March 9, 1813. In 1822 General Ashley, of St. Louis, with a party of a hundred men, started on a hunting and trapping expedition into the Rocky Mountains. Privations and dangers reduced the number of followers to 40 before the foothills were reached, but these 40 included some of the history makers of the West, among whom was Hiram Scott. General Ashley later released his trappers and Scott became a " free trapper," meaning that he gathered hides and fur for Hiram and not for a fur company. In the mountains Scott met Narcisse Le Clerc, a kinsman of Francis Le Clerc, who was with the Astorians, and they organized the second Northwestern Fur. Co., the first one having been merged into the Hudson Bay Co. On their way to St. Louis in 1828 with their fellow pioneers, to formally launch their company and to dispose of their first collection of peltries, Scott was taken ill with mountain fever. Two companions, Roi, "the man of the desert," and Bissonette, "the squaw man," remained with him, the three planning to float down the North Platte River, joining the rest of the party at the bluff about a hundred miles below. Their moose-hide boat was upset about 20 miles west of the point where Fort Laramie now stands, provisions, powder, and guns being lost, but the men reaching shore. At this spot Scott was deserted by his companions and left to die. Washington Irving, in his Adventures of Captain Bonneville, tells that Scott crawled over hills, sagebrush, and gullies for about 70 miles, only to die at the foot of the bluff where he had expected to rejoin his party. Before Scott reached the bluff the party had moved on, having been informed by the men who deserted him that he
Object
?

Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).