noon
We had had a good five hours ' sleep , while our mounts had been transformed from gaunt animals to round-barreled saddle horses , -- that fought and struggled amongst themselves or artfully dodged the lariat loops which were being cast after them . Honeyman reported the herd quietly grazing across the river , and after securing our mounts for the morning , we breakfasted before looking after the cattle . It took us less than an hour to round up and count the cattle , and turn them loose again under herd to graze . Those of us not on herd returned to the wagon , and our foreman instructed McCann to make a two hours ' drive down the river and camp for noon , as he proposed only to graze the herd that morning . After seeing the wagon safely beyond the rocky crossing , we hunted up a good bathing pool and disported ourselves for half an hour , taking a much needed bath . There were trails on either side of the Powder , and as our course was henceforth to the northwest , we remained on the west side and grazed or trailed down it . It was a beautiful stream of water , having its source in the Big Horn Mountains , frequently visible on our left .