Howdy, No trip along the Northern Trail to CA would be complete without the traveler's description of these famous landmarks. So let's join 49er Reuben Cole SHAW in 1849: "The fourth of July[1849] was ushered in by discharge of our firearms, and, after thorough cleaning, they were ready for use again... "We made satisfactory progress up the north fork of the Platte, and as a higher altitude was reached, the river became very narrow and rapid, and where it cut through high ridges, it formed very deep canyons. The animals found excellent grazing, the road was as good as could have been desired, and the weather fine, and hot days and cool nights. All of us enjoyed good health, and, barring anxiety as to the future and the scarcity of game, the daily marches to most of the company were quite enjoyable. "CHIMNEY ROCK, situated as it is on a level plain midway between the north fork of the Platte and the lofty sandhills which border the wide river bottom[ present day Nebraska], is an object of interest to all lovers of the grand in nature. In the clear atmosphere peculiar to that region it can be seen 40 miles away. At this distance it looks like a chimney of some great factory. At a distance of 15 or 20 miles it appears to the eye as a smooth, perpendicular shaft. "On arriving in the vicinity of the rock there was found a large symmetrical mound covering more than an acre of ground and about 100 feet high, from the center of which the rock reached a height estimated to be 180 feet. The rock, being composed of a soft, gray sandstone, was fast wearing away and adding its waste to the mound below. It was 50 or 60 fee in diameter at the base, and carried its size well to the top..Altogether it was a rough, ragged pile, and struck one as being more GRAND than beautiful." NOW, skipping ahead a bit; we again join 49er Shaw around July 25th: "As our pack-mules were losing flesh and showing signs of failure, in order to relieve them, our tents were thrown aside as surplus plunder, and we slept in the open air. Many other useless articles were left at different points. A large auger, with a very elaborate extension stem, with which we had intended to prospect the lower regions to any desired depth for the yellow metal, was left in the foothills, and a lot of sheet-iron gold-washers, made for the purpose of separating large quantities of gold from the shining sands found a resting place on the Platte River. Either of the above would have been about as useful in a gold mine as a TEXAS steer in a china shop:-)). "ROCK INDEPENDENCE was near our camp[present day Wyoming]. The granite pile, being isolated and rising from a level plain, is a landmark of enormous proportions and quite worthy to stand as a sentinel over the mountain peaks which are seen from its summit. It is 1,950 feet long and 125 feet high, occupying 21 acres of ground[stats from a guide book?]; yet is only one of the wonders, and quite in keeping with the immensity of objects to be found in that locality. Although having been surfeited with rocks for several days, we spent considerable time and enthusiasm in viewing the monster, which like it might be a mammoth EGG half buried in the earth:-) "Two or three miles from our cap was the DEVIL'S GATE[Wyoming], where the Sweetwater [river] cut thorugh a granite ridge. The length of the canyon is about 1,200 feet and the width 80 feet, while the walls of solid rock were over 400 feet high and appeared to be vertical, but this illusion was dispelled when, after climbing to the summit of the ridge, none of our party of four persons succeeded in throwing a stone across the yawning chasm." THEN on August 2nd[1849] we read: "On reaching the summit a little before noon we halted for dinner and were much interested in the formation of the mountain on which we were resting, and concluded that in some former age it had been a conical peak, but we found it to be a level summit of 10 or 12 acres in extent and in an almost exact circle with well defined outlines. The numberous rocks of a cubical form scattered over its surface, many of them of large dimensions, suggested to our minds vast quarries worked by mythical giants in former ages. Some of the boys named the point the CITY OF ROCKS[Idaho?], while those who discovered or imagined the lowest point on the summit to be in the center, called it the "Camp in the Wash Bowl."(From Shaw's"Across the Plains in '49). Pretty good trailside descriptions:-), Bob Norris in Dallas <BNorris166aol.com>