| Miles. |
| Denver City to |
| 5. | Vasquez Fork.—Good road and fine camp. |
| 19 1/2. | Thompson’s Fork.—Road crosses three creeks about five miles apart, is good, and the camp is well supplied with water and grass, but wood is scarce. |
| 16 1/2. | Bent’s Fork.—Road crosses two streams about five miles apart; no wood on the first. Good camp. |
| 26. | Cashe la Poudre River.—Excellent road crossing two streams at ten and twenty-three miles from the last camp; good camps on both. Cashe la Poudre is a fine large stream which issues from the mountains near the road, and is difficult to cross in high water. It has a firm bottom. Good camps along this stream, with plenty of wood and grass. |
| 16. | Beaver Creek.—Road turns to the left and enters the hills, ascending very gradually between two lines of bluffs, and is good except in wet weather. Good camp. |
| 19. | Small Branch.—Road crosses Beaver Creek three times, affording good camps. Road is hilly, but not very rough, passing for a portion of the distance through a timbered region. Elk and mountain sheep are abundant in this section. The camp is near the summit of the divide. Grass short. |
| 17 1/2. | Tributary of Laramie River.—Good road on the divide. Grass and water plenty, but wood not abundant. |
| 18 1/2. | Tributary of Laramie River.—Road passes Laramie Fork three miles from the last camp. Good camp. |
| 21. | Tributary of Laramie River.—Road crosses a small creek at 14 miles from last camp. Fine Camp. |
| 17. | Medicine Bow Creek.—At twelve miles the road crosses Sulphur Spring Creek, and at the West Fork of the Laramie Lieutenant Bryan’s road enters. At ten miles from the last camp there are two roads—one, Bryan’s, leading north of the Medicine Bow Butte, and the other to the south of it. The former is the best. Good camp. |
| 17 1/2. | Prairie Creek.—Fine camp. A portion of the road is very rough. It crosses several small branches upon which good camps may be had. Fine game section, with bear, elk, etc., in great abundance. |
| 12 1/2. | North Fork of the Platte.—Excellent camp. Leave Bryan’s road four miles back, taking the left, which is altogether the best of the two. The crossing of the Platte is good except in high water, when it is very rapid. A flat-boat was left here by Colonel Lording’s command in 1858. |
| 12 1/2. | Clear Creek.—Sage for fuel; grass short. |
| 23. | Dry Creek.—Road leaves Bryan’s trail to Bridger’s Pass, and bears to the right, passing over a smooth country covered with sage and poorly watered; passes a pond of milky water at thirteen miles. There is water in Dry Creek except in a very dry season. Two miles from the creek, on the old trail, there is a fine spring on the left of the road, which runs down into the road, and here is the best grass after leaving the Platte, with plenty of fuel. |
| 10 1/2. | Muddy Creek.—Road leaves the old Cherokee trail at Dry Creek, and bears to the left. Good camp for a limited number of animals; fine grass along near the bank of the creek. Bad crossing. Buffalo seen here. |
| 19 1/2. | Lake.—Old trail enters near this camp. Road passes a brackish spring four miles back. The road may be shortened by bearing to the left and skirting the hills for about six miles before reaching the lake. The water in the lake is not good, but drinkable, and will be abundant except in the very dryest part of the summer. Grass is good on the hills. The road from Dry Creek is shorter than the old road by 30 miles. |
| 24 1/2. | Red Lakes.—Road is good, but traverses a very dry and sterile region. The water is not good in the lakes, but drinkable, and may go dry in midsummer. Grass tolerable. |
| 22. | Seminoes Spring.—After passing the flats at the Red Lakes the road is smooth and good, and there is a good camp at Seminoes Spring. |
| 12 1/2. | Bitter Creek.—New road to the left, cutting off ten or twelve miles. Good camp; water a little saline, but drinkable. |
| 25. | Sulphur Spring.—Road runs along the valley of Bitter Creek, where there is but little grass until reaching camp. Animals should be driven across the creek into the hills where the best grass is found. |
| 17. | Green River.—Road leaves Bitter Creek at Sulphur Spring, and passes near some high bluffs, where there are small springs and good grass. Excellent camp at Green River. From here the road runs over the same track as Bryan’s road to Fort Bridger. From all the information I have been able to obtain regarding Lieutenant Bryan’s road from Sage Creek through Bridger’s Pass, and thence down the Muddy Creek, I am inclined to believe that the road we traveled is much the best. It is said that Lieutenant Bryan’s route from Bridger’s Pass to Green River has a scarcity of grass. The water is brackish, and the supply limited, and may fail altogether in a dry season. The road passes through deep valleys and cañons, crossing muddy ceeks and deep ravines. The creeks have been bridged and the ravines cut down so as to form a practicable road; but freshets will probably occur in the spring, which will destroy a great deal of the work, and may render the road impassable.—Lieutenant Duane’s Notes.. |
| The other road is for the greater part of the distance smooth, and has a sufficiency of grass in places, but the water may become scarce in a very dry season. |
