132 NAERATIVE OF THE EXPEDITIOX. 



darting a look of despair. His Indian wife had deserted him. 

 Food, of an inadequate quality, was occasionally thrown in to 

 him. Such were the accounts we received. Governor Cass di- 

 rected groceries, ammunition, and presents of clothing to be made 

 to him, to the latter of which, every member of the party added. 

 He also engaged a person to convey him to Sandy Lake. 



We examined the environs of the place with interest; the 

 village occupies the north banks of Turtle Kiver Valley. Turtle 

 Eiver, which cuts its way through this slope and plain, consti- 

 tutes the direct line of intercourse for the Indian trade, through 

 Turtle and Eed Lakes, to the Red River Valley of Hudson's Bay. 

 On inquiry, we learned that this river had constituted the ancient 

 Indian line of communication by canoes and portages, from time 

 immemorial, wdth that valley, the distance to the extreme plateau, 

 or summit, being about sixty miles. On this summit, within a 

 couple of miles of each other, lie Turtle and Red Lakes, the one 

 having its discharge into the Gulf of Mexico and the other into 

 Hudson's Bay. When Canada was settled by the French, this 

 aboriginal route was adopted. The fur companies of Great Bri- 

 tain, on coming into possession of the country, after the fall of 

 Quebec, 1759, followed the same route. The factors of these com- 

 panies told Lieutenant Pike, in 1806, at Sandy Lake and Leech 

 Lake, that the Turtle portage was the only practicable route of 

 communication to the Red River, and that it was the true source 

 of the Mississippi; and they furnished him manuscript maps of 

 the country conformable to these views. The region has actually 

 been in possession of the Americans only since 1806, adopting • 

 the era of Pike's visit. 



By inquiry from the Chippewa Indians at this village, sanctioned 

 by the Canadian authorities, we are informed that the Mississippi 

 falls into the south end of Cass Lake, at the distance of eight or 

 ten miles ; that it reaches that point from the west, by a series of 

 sharp rapids stretching over an extent of about forty miles from 

 a large lake ;* and that this celebrated stream originates in Lac la 

 Biche, about six days' journey from our present position, and has 

 many small lakes, rapids, and falls. It is further asserted by the 

 Indians, that the water in these remote streams, and upon these 



* Called Andrusia. Expedition to Starca Lake in 1837. 



