The next day after his arrival after having talked the matter over relative to Black canyon and the country surrounding it, he asked me how far it was to the noted place.  I told him it was what we called fifty miles.  The General said:  “There is where I want to go.  Those men I brought out with me are anxious for a fight.  I brought them out here to fight, and I will see that they get it.”  He told me that the day following he wished me to accompany him to that country, saying:  “You can take as many of your scouts along as you like, and I will make a detail of twenty men to do camp duty.”

We started out the following morning for Black canyon, taking along my entire scout force.  In the afternoon of the second day I piloted Gen. Crook to a high ridge, where, with his glasses, he could overlook the whole country.  He could see Black canyon and the perpendicular wall of rock on the opposite side for miles and miles, in fact, as far as he could see with his glasses.  After he had looked the country all over he asked me where we could get into the canyon.  In answer to this question I said:  “General it is easy enough to get into it, but the question is where to get out.”

He said:  “We surely can get out where we go in if we only have sense enough to keep our eyes open.”  So I told him that I would show him the next morning.  We returned to camp and I started out on foot to find some fresh meat, and had gone but a short distance when I ran on to a band of wild turkeys, and killed two fat gobblers.  Turkeys seemed to keep fat in that country the year around, as those that I killed were very fat.  During the time I was out hunting George Jones had taken two other scouts and had made an entire circle of our camp, and not seeing any Indians or fresh sign we felt safe from any attack that night.

The next morning we did not move camp, but leaving the twenty men detailed for camp duty in charge of the camp and stock, I took my entire scout force to escort Gen. Crook to Black canyon.  When we came to where the trail started down the bluff, he asked me how far I had been down.  I told him about a mile, but did not let him know that Lieut.  Jackson was with me at the time, knowing that the General wanted the glory of being the first officer to investigate and take in the situation of Black canyon.  He asked me if it was safe for us to go down that far.  I told him it was not at this time of day as we could not go that far and back without being seen by hundreds of Indians.

He decided not to look any further, but we returned to our camp and made preparations to start back to headquarters the next morning.  He did not say anything to me as to what he thought of Black canyon that evening, but next day on our way back to headquarters he asked me if I thought there would be grass enough where we camped the night before for three or four hundred head of stock for three or four days.  This led me to believe that he intended moving a part of his command to that place.