34 NARRATIVE OF 1853. 
Louis as quartermaster and commissary, in place of Lieutenant Saxton, sent to the western coast 
to make the necessary arrangements for supplies and transportation. 
Captain Gardiner, under date of the 21st of April, was instructed to repair to St. Paul, via 
St. Louis, to hasten on the quartermaster and commissary arrangements, select the escort, estab- 
lish the camp near St. Paul, and prepare the expedition for the field; and Lieutenant Du Barry, 
under date of April 26, was also despatched to St. Paul, with instructions to organize at that 
point a party of four men, push forward to Pembina, on the Red River of the North, and secure 
the guides to be sent there by Sir George Simpson. Не was then to proceed in a west by south 
course, north of the Miniwakan lake, to effect a junction with е main party moving south 
of that lake, the main object of his trip being to bring to the main party the desired guides in 
the shortest possible time. Captain Gardiner proceeded in execution of the duty assigned to 
him, and established the camp before my arrival; but Lieutenant Du Barry did not go to Pem- 
bina, for reasons hereafter to be mentioned. 
I will here observe, that in the several instructions I enjoined the utmost economy on the 
part of chiefs of parties; but care was taken to impress upon them the necessity of making 
such arrangements as would make the several branches of the expedition self-depending. 
Whilst I had taken the necessary precaution to get supplies from the Hudson Bay posts in 
case of necessity, I was anxious that such necessity should not occur, and I wrote both to Gover- 
nor Simpson, at Montreal, and Governor Ogden, at Vancouver, not to accumulate supplies at 
their several posts for the use of my parties. 
The other gentlemen also followed, some to St. Louis and some to St. Paul, and by great 
exertion my arrangements were sufficiently matured to enable me to leave Washington on the 
9th of May. I had authority from the Indian department to hold councils with the Indian tribes 
on the route, and to make treaties with such as were not included within the limits of any 
existing superintendency. This applied especially to the Blackfeet, who were the only Indians 
on the route not included either within the northern or western superintendency. 
Accompanied by Mr. Stanley, the artist of the exploration, I arrived at St. Louis on the 15th 
of May. Mr. Elwood Evans was left behind to complete the arrangements. Here I met 
Lieutenants Grover, Donelson, and Mullan, who had precededme. The quartermaster arrange- 
ments were not as far advanced as I anticipated. The mules were not to be delivered at St. 
Paul till about the 26th of May, and the Fur Company’s boat was not to start until the 20th of 
May. Accordingly I determined to remain in St Louis to complete the arrangements for trans- 
portation and to provide for the establishment of a depot at the mouth of the Yellowstone. 
At St. Louis, also, I secured the services of Alexander Culbertson, esq., as special agent 
among the Blackfeet Indians. He had resided many years among this tribe, and has had charge 
of the forts of the American Fur Company on the Missouri. His reputation is decidedly high 
as a man of character and great influence over these Indians. 
On the 21st the Fur Company’s boat left St. Louis, having on board the supplies intended to 
meet us at Fort Union, with the party under Lieutenant Donelson, already referred to, with 
the addition of Dr. Evans, the geologist of the exploration. Lieutenant Donelson is instructed 
to make the best possible survey of the Missouri that is permitted by his circumstances as a 
passenger on the steamboat, and to prepare a report on the capacity of the Upper Missouri for 
