CHAPTER I. 



Order from head-quarters of the army — failure of former expeditions in 



reaching the sources of red river causes of failure — departure from 



washington — arrival at fort belknap — the little witchita — big wit- 

 chita — departure from cache creek — copper ore — indian signs. 



New York, December 5, 1852. 



Col. S. Cooper, Adjutant General U. S. Army : 



Sir : I have the honor herewith to submit a report of an exploration 

 of the country embraced within the basin of Upper Red river, made in 

 obedience to the following orders : 



[Special Orders No. 33.] Adjutant General's Office, 



Washington, March 5, 1852. 



Captain E. B. Marcy, 5th Infantry, with his company as an escort, will proceed, 

 without unnecessary delay, to make an examination of the Red river, and the 

 country bordering upon it, from the mouth of Cache creek to its sources, accord- 

 ing to the special instructions with which he will be furnished. On completing 

 the exploration, Captain Marcy will proceed to Washington to prepare his report. 



Brevet Captain G. B. McClellan, Corps of Engineers, is assigned to duty with 

 this expedition. Upon the completion of the field service, he will report to 

 Brevet Major General Smith, the commander of the 8th department. 



The necessary supplies of subsistence and quartermasters' stores will be 

 furnished from the most convenient depots in the 7th or 8th military department. 



By command of Major General Scott: 



E. JONES, 



Adjutant General. 



Before proceeding to give a detailed account of the expedition, it 

 may be proper to remark, that during the greater portion of the three 

 years previous to the past summer, I had been occupied in exploring 

 the district of country lying upon the Canadian river of the Arkansas, 

 and upon the head-waters of the Trinity, Brazos, and Colorado rivers of 

 Texas. 



During this time my attention was frequently called to the remark- 

 able fact that a portion of one of the largest and most important rivers 

 in the United States, lying directly within the limits of the district I 

 had been examining, remained up to that late period wholly unexplored 



