356 ITINERARY OF ROUTE FROM ST. PAUL TO FORT UNION. 



July 6. Country wet and marshy ; not a tree in sight ; prairie with low ridges 

 and knolls, and great number of ponds and marshes; night s camp by a small 

 pond ; no wood, but plenty of &quot; bois de vache ;&quot; grass good ....................... 20 



July 7. Approaching the Shayenne; country as yesterday for some half-dozen 

 miles; bordering on the river the ground is broken with deep coulees and ravines, 

 and to keep away from them the train kept at some distance from the river, en 

 camping by a small marshy pond; no wood ; plenty of &quot;bois de vache;&quot; grass good; 

 water tolerable ; h rst buffalo killed to-day ..................................... 15 



July s. Prairie swelling with ridges ; descend to the Shayenne, which flows 

 some 150 to 200 feet below the prairie by a steep hill ; camp in the bottom of the 

 river; wood and water good ; grass rather poor ; the bottom of the Shayenne, some 

 half a mile wide, is often soft and miry, but when crossed by the train, firm and 

 dry ..................................................................... 1 3 



July 9. Cross the Shayenne, 50 feet wide, 3 feet deep; immediate banks some 

 10 feet high, and requiring some digging to give passage t6 the wagons ......... $ 



Prairie with swelling ridges and occasional marshes to camp, to a slough afford 

 ing water and grass, no wood ; buffalo very abundant ........................ 6J 



7 



July ] 0. Prairie swelling into ridges and hills, with a frequency of marshes, 

 ponds, arid sloughs; camp at a pretty lake, near Lake Jessie; fairly wooded, with 

 water slightly saline; grass scanty, having been consumed by the buffalo; prairies 

 covered with buffalo ....................................................... 10 



July 11. Pass over the high hills resting on the western shore of lake of the 

 encampment and Lake Jessie ............................................ 1 i- 



Level prairie, with small ponds and marshes, to a bad slough, 100 yards wide 

 and 3 feet deep, the passage of which caused a good deal of delay, the wagons be 

 ing drawn through by oxen, by means of long ropes reaching across the slough. . . . 4.\- 



Rolling and hilly, with small marshes and ponds, to camp near some small ponds, 

 surrounded with knolls; water tolerable; grass good; no wood; &quot;bois de vache&quot; 

 plenty; prairies covered with buffalo, running off several horses and mules during 

 the day s march, which were never recovered ............................... 4 J 



July 12. Smooth prairie, generally dry; many small lakes and marshes to be 

 seen on either side. 



Night camp by a marsh, affording tolerable water; grass good ; no wood ; &quot;bois 

 de vache&quot; for fuel ..... .................................................... 



July 13. Smooth prairie, abounding in marshy spots. Cross and recross 

 Riviere a Jaques, a small stream, destitute of wood, with a, firm bottom, and easy 

 of passage with wagons ................................................. 14 



Prairie to camp on the river ; water good ; grass fair ; no wood ............. 5 



- 20 



July 14. Hilly and marshy prairie, with many small ponds ; camp by a small 

 lake or pond ; water tolerable ; grass good ; no wood ........................... 21 J 



July 15. Marshy prairie, abounding with ponds; camp near a small pond; 

 water tolerable ; sufficient grazing ; no wood. At this camp, were joined by a large 

 band of Red River half-breeds. The buffalo have continued plenty, and the 

 &quot;bois de vache&quot; has, without inconvenience, been substituted for wood at the 

 camp-fires ............................................................ 2J 



July 17. But little change of country ; undulating prairie, with a thin soil, and, 

 excepting in marshy spots, a thin and short grass. Night camp near a small 

 rivulet affording water and grass ............................................. 9J 



