48 WESTERN INCIDENTS.

whitened bones or decaying carcasses of innumerable
cattle which had fallen out by the way, until we reached
Fort Kearny on the following Saturday morning for
breakfast.

Mr. Williams, however, did not lose an opportunity of
impressing upon our minds, as we met and passed the
long emigrant and freight trains, wending their slow and
tedious way to and from the more distant West, the truth
and practicability of his favorite theories in relation to
the formation and ultimate destiny of this portion of
the country, which were:

First.—That the Great Platte Valley, extending, as it
does, in a direct line eastward, nearly six hundred miles
from the base of the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri
Valley, was intended as the great thoroughfare for the
overland commerce of the world.

Second.—That the Platte River itself was intended, in
the first instance, to supply water to the early pioneers
and emigrants in their pilgrimages to and from the Rocky
Mountains; and subsequently to afford the means for
irrigating the immense plains along its borders; and thus
render it eventually one of the finest pastoral and agri-
cultural regions upon the continent. And,

Third.—That the perpetual snows upon the mountains
were intended to furnish an unfailing supply of water
to the mountain streams which flow into the Platte; and
thus, during all time, afford the means of irrigation to

the extensive table lands along the eastern base of the
mountains.

BEN HOLLADAY AND FRIENDS.

At Fort Kearny we met the veritable Ben. Holladay
himself, with his agent, Mr. Street, and travelling com-
panion, Dr. Sayre, of New York city; together with a