18 DISCOURAGING ACCOUNTS. 



ing over an elevated flat prairie country, totally destitute of -water, wood, 

 or grass, and the only substitute for fuel that could be bad was the 

 buffalo "chips." They remarked in the course of the interview that 

 some few of their old men had been to the head of the river, and that 

 the journey could be made in eighteen days by rapid riding; but the 

 accounts given by those who had made the journey were of such a 

 character as to deter others from attempting it. They said we need 

 have no apprehension of encountering Indians, as none ever visited that 

 section of the country. I inquired of them if there were not holes in the 

 earth where the water remained after rains. They said no ; that the.soil 

 was of so porous a nature that it soaked up the water as soon as it fell. 

 I then endeavored to hire one of their old men to accompany me as. 

 guide ; but they said they were afraid to go into the country, as there 

 was no water, and they were fearful they would perish before they could 

 return; The chief said, in conclusion, that perhaps I might not credit 

 their statements, but that I would have abundant evidence of the truth 

 of their assertions if I ventured much further with my command. 

 This account of the country ahead of us is truly discouraging; and it 

 would seem that we have anything but an agreeable prospect before us. 

 As soon, however, as the creek will admit of fording, I shall, without 

 subjecting the command to too great privations, push forward as far as 

 possible into this most inhospitable and dreaded salt desert. As the 

 Indians, from 'their own statements, had travelled a great distance to see 

 us, I distributed some presents among them, with a few rations of pork 

 and flour, for which we received their acknowledgments, in their cus- 

 tomary style — by begging for everything else they saw. . 



May 28. — Captain McClellan has, by observations upon lunar dis- 

 tances, determined the longitude of our last camp upon the creek to be 

 100° 0' 45^, which is but a short distance from the point where the line 

 dividing the Choctaw territory from the State of Texas crosses Red 

 river. The point where this line intersects Otter creek is marked upon 

 a large elm tree standing near the bank, and it will be found about four 

 miles from the mouth of the creek upon the south side, with the longi- 

 tude (100° 0' 45") and the latitude (34° 34' 6") distinctly marked 

 upon it. 



Captain McClellan will start to-morrow morning for the purpose of 

 running the meridian of the 100th degree of longitude to where it inter- 

 sects Red river, and will mark the point distinctly. 



May 29. — After digging down the banks of the creek this morning, 

 we were enabled to cross the train and to resume our march up the 

 river ; our course led us towards the point where the river debouches 



