noon
We stayed with him a half-hour , and then went on . As we could not reach Deadwood that day , he advised us to camp that night where the trail crossed Thunder Butte Creek , a branch of La Belle Fourche . The trail led for the most part through valleys or along the sides of hills , and was generally not far from level , though there was , of course , a constant though hardly perceptible rise as we got farther into the mountains . We camped at noon at Elk Creek , and made further progress at drying our household effects . We pressed on during the afternoon , and passed through the town of Sturgis , where we laid in some stores of provisions to take the place of those spoiled by the water , and also a quantity of horse-feed . Later we congratulated ourselves on our good-luck in doing this . As the afternoon wore away we found ourselves getting up above the timber-line .