Re: MtMan-List: Fitzpatrick

["John L. Allen" <jlallen@snet.net>]

Ho the list,

Clarification in the posting below:

There is no place "where the Wind meets the Bighorn." In one of the
strangest geographic naming conventions ever, the Wind River, after passing
through the Wind River Canyon, simply becomes the Big Horn River. There is
no junction with another stream--the name of the river simply changes. This
"wedding of the waters" is just south of Thermopolis, WY. The Big Horn was
seen from the north and named by William Clark (1806) following a French
name probably attached to the stream in the 1790s. John Colter and George
Drouillard (c. 1809) were on the Big Horn and referred to it by that name.
The Wind River was named by Wilson Price Hunt (1810) who used its valley to
cross Union Pass during the westbound Astorian's trek. It wasn't until the
early 1830s that it became generally known that the two were the same river
(although I'll bet the early mountain men knew--even if the mapmakers
didn't). Rather than rename the whole stream, the decision was made
(essentially by the mountain men) to call the river the Big Horn below the
canyon, and the Wind River above.

The "forks of the Wind" that Anderson refers to is probably the junction of
the Popo Agie and Little Wind River with the Wind River, south of the town
site of Riverton, WY.

I would agree that the phenomenon was probably a localized "dust devil",
very common in this area of intense convectional heating in the summer
months. I've been caught in them on horseback and the feeling is not unlike
that related by Fitzpatrick.

John Allen

Dr. John L. Allen
21 Thomas Drive
Storrs, CT 06268
860/487-1346
jlallen@snet.net


-----Original Message-----
From: Casapy123@aol.com <Casapy123@aol.com>
To: hist_text@lists.xmission.com <hist_text@lists.xmission.com>
Date: Sunday, November 01, 1998 12:57 PM
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Fitzpatrick


>Steve,
>
>That story was reported by William Marshall Anderson on August 9, 1834.  He
>was retelling something that Fitzpatrick told him.  The information you
read
>in Leroy Hafen's "Broken Hand," (Old West Publishing, Denver, 1973 pg. 81),
is
>from Anderson's diary, written while on the trail.  Anderson also made two
re-
>writes of his diary, one referred to as a narrative and one referred to as
a
>journal.  The journal covers his entire trip while the narrative covers
only a
>portion of the trip.
>
>The journal entry for the same date reads "When Mr. Fitzpatrick was
encamped
>at the forks of the Wind River he experienced a simoom (sic) or something
>similar - On 20th June the sun became red, the atmosphere was
substantialised
>and bore a dull, hazy appearance, and the heat was so intense that his eyes
>felt as if they would have melted out of their sockets - Where the gusty
wind
>touched the unprotected skin it crisped or blistered - His lungs
>notwithstanding the hot air circulated, laboured as tho he were gasping in
an
>empty receiver." ("Rocky Mountain Jounrals of William Marshall Anderson:
The
>West in 1834," Dale Morgan and Eleanor T. Harris, Huntington Library, San
>Marino, CA, 1967. pg. 176 -77)
>
>WORLDBOOK encyclopedia describes a "simoom" as a hot, dry wind that blows
in
>desert regions carrying great clouds of sand and dust.  It rises suddenly
and
>people or animals may suffer from heat stroke when they are exposed to one.
>Simooms may pass in ten minutes or last for days.  Simooms are caused by
the
>overheating of the soil and the layers of air nest to it.
>
>David Jackson had sent Fitzpatrick, presumably by himself, to find William
>Sublette in order to direct Sublette to a meeting with Jackson farther
west.
>This hot wind storm cropped up near where the Wind meets the Bighorn.
While
>not exactly desert, this is a fairly flat, dry region.  My opinion (for
what
>it may be worth) is that Fitzpatrick experienced a localized wind storm
>similar to the funnel-cloud-like "dust devils" frequently seen in flat open
>areas and he embelished the tale a bit for his greenhorn audience.  This
would
>also explain why no one else (that I've seen) has recorded any general
>atmospheric disturbances for that date.
>
>Jim Hardee, AMM#1671
>P.O. Box 1228
>Quincy, CA  95971
>(530)283-4566 (H)
>(530)283-3330 (W)
>(530)283-5171 FAX
>Casapy123@aol.com
>