At times these were diversified by
variegated ridges of sandstone, blue, red, and yellow in hue.
A brief period of rest was enjoyed at Fort Bent, but on the 2d of August
the column was on the trail again, the sick and worn-out being left
behind. As they proceeded the desert grew more arid still. Neither grass
nor shrubs was to be found for the famishing animals; the water, what
little there was, proved to be muddy and bitter; the wheels sank deep in
the pulverized soil, and men and beasts alike were nearly suffocated by
the clouds of dust that blew into their eyes, nostrils, and mouths. Glad
were they when, after three days of this frightful passage, they halted on
the welcome banks of the Purgatoire, a cool mountain-stream, and saw
rising before them the snowy summits of the lofty Cimmaron and Spanish
peaks and knew that the desert was passed.
The sight of the rugged mountains infused new energy into their weary
souls, and it was with fresh spirit that they climbed the rough hills
leading upward towards the Raton Pass, emerging at length into a grand
mountain amphitheatre closed in with steep walls of basalt and granite.
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