26 EXPLORATIONS FROM A. D. 1800 To A. p. 1832. 
by land up the right bank of the Mississippi to Fort Snelling. The other part arrived there 
soon after by water. This place had been visited by Major Long in 1817, and its site recom- 
mended for a permanent military post, which was established in 1819. 
At Fort Snelling Colonel Leavenworth furnished Major Long with a new escort, consisting 
of an officer, three non-commissioned officers, and eighteen soldiers, making the whole party 
consist of thirty-three men. This was the first authentic exploration to the sources of the St. 
Peter’s or Minnesota river, though its lower portions had probably been visited by M. Le Sueur 
as early as 1695.—(See Keating’s narrative of Major Long’s expedition for an interesting 
account of its first discovery.) The expedition ascended the river both by land and water to 
its source in Big Stone lake, and passed the divide between it and Lac Traverse, which, in 
high water, is sometimes submerged so that the two lakes unite. They then proceeded 
down Swan river (now called Bois de Sioux river) to its junction with Red river, and along the 
valley of the latter to its intersection by the 49th parallel, determining this point by astronom- 
ical observations. It was Major Long’s intention, according to his instructions, to continue 
along the 49th parallel to Lake Superior, but being convinced of the impracticability of so 
doing by representations made to him, he continued down the valley of Red river, through 
the British possessions, to Fort Gerry, at the mouth of Assiniboin river, and thence to Lake 
Winnipeg, and along its southern shore to Fort Alexander, at the mouth of Winnipeg river. 
From this place the party ascended the Winnipeg river to Lake of the Woods, across this to 
Rainy Lake river, up this to Rainy lake, across this lake, Sturgeon lake, and the chain of lakes, 
to Thousand lake, where they made the Portage du Prairie to the source of Dog river, and 
proceeded down this stream to Fort William, on Lake Superior, making seventy-two portages 
after leaving Lake Winnipeg. The scenery along this portion of the route is described as very 
picturesque, abounding in falls, cascades, rapids, lakes, and islands. The Falls of Kakabeka, 
on Dog river, near Lake Superior, are 130 feet high. 
From Fort William the command coursed along ‘‘the dreary northern shore of Lake Supe- 
rior” by water to the Saute St. Mary, which may be considered the terminus of the expedition. 
The astronomer, Mr. Colhoun, made numerous observations, which embraced every kind of 
which a sextant is capable. Our knowledge of the route has been improved by other ex- 
plorers from the mouth of the St. Peter’s river to the 49th parallel, but from that point to the 
mouth of Dog river this map is our only authority along the route explored. The Shayenne 
river, which Major Long supposed to be only fifty miles long, has since been shown to have a 
valley about 300 miles in length. 
J. C. BROWN’S SURVEY OF ROAD FROM FORT OSAGE TO TAOS, 1825-6-7. 
In the Topographical Bureau there is one map, in two sheets, of this survey, on a scale of 
four miles to an inch, another on a scale of twelve miles to an inch, and a third on a scale of 
four miles to an inch, in thirty-one sections, ‘‘of the road surveyed and marked out from the 
western frontier of Missouri near Fort Osage, to San Fernando de Taos, near Santa Fé, in 
New Mexico, by order of the government of the United States, in the years 1825, 1826, and 
1827, with accurate and minute notes and directions for the use of travellers," which begins 
thus: ‘‘ The following pages contain a map of the road, as surveyed and marked out from the 
frontier of Missouri to Taos, the first settlement in the direction to Santa Fé, under the direc- 
tion of Benjamin Reeves, George C. Sibley, and Thomas Mather, commissioners appointed by 
the President of the United States for that purpose." 
: و‎ Egi eee ei quaesitum 
