296 DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY BETWEEN 
gation of the interior streams and lakes, together with all the appliances of travel 
in the Northwest. 
On these accounts, we were advised to proceed to Crow Wing, as the most likely 
place at which to obtain good voyageurs and canoes suitable for the country we 
were about to traverse. But, before we could reach that place, most of the clerks 
had come in and made their “returns,” and nearly all the voyageurs acquainted 
with the section of country I was directed to explore, had left the post. My only 
chance, therefore, was to wait for the arrival of Mr. Chaboeuliez, who, with several 
men, was daily expected to arrive from Red Lake. Mr. C. had been highly recom- 
mended for the situation Mr. Morrison was to have filled, and it was hoped that his 
arrival would enable the corps to take the field under the most favourable circum- 
stances. He reached Crow Wing on the 15th of June, when he accepted the situa- 
tion, and engaged to join the corps at Fond du Lac, in July. 
On the 15th of June, we completed our arrangements, by the purchase of two 
half-worn canoes, the best that could be procured; and left Crow Wing at nine 
o'clock next morning, with four of the best voyageurs in the Northwest, to begin 
the reconnoissance of the district of country designated in my instructions. 
As the country bordering the Mississippi between Crow Wing and Sandy Lake 
has been partially described by Lieutenant Allen and Mr. H. R. Schoolcraft, and 
subsequently by M. Nicollet, a very brief outline will be given of this part of our 
journey. : 
Between Crow Wing and Rabbit River, the general features of the country differ 
very little from those of the region immediately around Crow Wing, except that 
the soil on the general level appears to be thinner and more sandy, and bears a 
thick growth of small pine. There is also less prairie to be seen from the river. 
Eleven miles above Crow Wing, where we encamped on the 16th, I made an 
excursion of several miles into the country, and found the forest, over much of the 
tract traversed, destroyed by fire. Most of the trees had fallen to the ground, and 
in the course of two or three years, if the annual fires are kept up, the whole tract 
will be prairie, and not a vestige of the forest which once occupied it will remain. 
A succession of fires are required to kill the trees, but after that is done, succeeding 
fires and the wind soon bring them to the ground, and they disappear in a short 
time. From facts which have come under my observation in several parts of the 
territory, I am led to believe, that if, after the clearing of the pine forests, the annual 
fires cease, a growth of oak springs up in some places, and aspen in others. 
Up to Rabbit River there is but little bottom land. The bottoms which occur 
are rich, and support an excellent growth of oak, bass-wood, elm, aspen, and some 
soft maple, but most of them are narrow and subject to overflow during high freshets. 
About four miles above the mouth of Rabbit River, good second-rate pine occurs 
on the ridges on both sides of the Mississippi. The river bottoms also begin to 
widen, and in addition to the timber just named, butternut, ash, and birch are 
common. Two miles further up, White Bearskin River comes in from the west. 
The shores of this stream, as well as those of the lake from which it flows, are 
represented as being covered with first-rate pine. The pinery of which this forms 
a part, extends beyond Pine River, which enters the Mississippi from the west, 
