276 EXPEDITION TO THE 



party encamped that evening on a sandbar in the Missis- 

 sippi, opposite to the mouth of Buffalo river. The next 

 morning, a head wind detained the boat a long while, but 

 it afterwards shifted, and the party ascended so rapidly, 

 that early in the afternoon they found themselves within 

 a few miles of the lower extremity of Lake Pepin; 

 they were very desirous of visiting the fortifications des- 

 cribed by Carver as being on the Mississippi, "some miles 

 below Lake Pepin." Mr. Schoolcraft states, upon the au- 

 thority of a Mr. Hart, a trader, that they are on the west 

 bank of the river, a circumstance not mentioned by Car- 

 ver. We spoke with the oldest traders in the country ; 

 with those who had been all their lifetime in the habit of 

 encamping in that vicinity, but met with none who had 

 ever seen them or heard of them. Mr. Rolette, a part- 

 ner in the American Fur Company, mentioned that he 

 supposed the most probable place was at a well-known 

 spot on the river, called the " Grand Encampment," situ- 

 ated a few miles south of Lake Pepin. This gentleman, 

 who had encamped there very frequently, had, however, 

 never observed any thing like fortifications. On drawing 

 near to the bank at this place, a regular elevation of the 

 ground, parallel to the water's edge, struck us as an artifi- 

 cial embankment; but on landing, and inspecting it, the 

 gentlemen of the party unanimously agreed, that there 

 was here no appearance of ancient works, but that the 

 features observed were natural. The next question was, 

 whether this was the place visited and described by Car- 

 ver, and whether he had seen artificial works, or mistaken 

 for them the natural peculiarities of the surface; upon 

 this point there was a difference of opinion. Messrs. Say and 

 Scott thought that the description of the locality, given by 

 Carver, was sufficient to identify it with this spot, and that as 

 it was impossible that they should not have observed fortifi- 



