I had long felt an unconquerable desire
to have another look at the Teton and the scenes amid which so many
strange events in my life had occurred. I thought of sending for you
to go with me, but I knew you were abroad much of your time, and I
could not be certain of catching you. Finally I decided to go alone. I
travelled on horseback by way of the Snake River canyon, and arrived
early one morning in Jackson's Hole. I can tell you it was a gloomy
place, as barren and deserted as some of those Arabian wadies that you
have been describing to me. The railroad had long ago been abandoned,
and the site of the military camp could scarcely be recognized. An
immense cavity with ragged walls showed where Dr. Syx's mill used to
send up its plume of black smoke.
"As I stared up the gaunt form of the Teton, whose beetling precipices
had been smashed and split by the great explosion, I was seized with a
resistless impulse to climb it. I thought I should like to peer off
again from that pinnacle which had once formed so fateful a
watch-tower for me. Turning my horse loose to graze in the grassy
river bottom, and carrying my rope tether along as a possible aid in
climbing, I set out for the ascent.
Pages:
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127