40 NARRATIVE OF 1853. 
I accompanied Lieutenant Du Barry’s command to the ferry at St. Anthony, and then went 
to the point whence the steamboat Governor Ramsey started, which was to convey Lieutenant 
Grover’s party up the Mississippi. The stores, instruments, baggage, with a quantity of oats, 
made four heavy wagon loads. The boat got off about half-past 2 o'clock, when I went to our 
old camp to make the final arrangements for the moving of the remainder of the train, and late 
in the evening went to St. Anthony, where І left Mr. Osgood and a light wagon to await Mr. 
Kendall, whose arrival from New York, with numerous instruments and two India-rubber boats, 
was daily expected. I remained in St. Anthony till noon of June T, to secure the services of 
several voyageurs, and particularly of the guide Pierre Boutineau and the hunter Menoc, in 
which I was successful; and starting about noon, and taking a rapid conveyance, I pushed 
forward the same day forty miles, overtaking at Rum river Lieutenant Du Barry, and some 
miles beyond both Doty and Simpson; and reaching Sauk Rapids, a distance of 30 miles 
further, by 11 a. m., found Mr. Tinkham actively engaged in the survey of that portion of the 
river. The crossing at St. Anthony is by a rope ferry, its motive power being the action of 
the current, having a short rope at the bow, and a longer or slack rope astern. On the west 
side of the Mississippi, about three miles above Rum river, there was a large encampment of 
Winnebago Indians, consisting of about one hundred lodges. These are constructed of oak 
bark, fastened by strips of buckskin over arched poles, resembling in shape the cover of a 
wagon; they are about eight feet high, and from ten to thirty feet long, according to the 
number of families to be accommodated. The chief’s lodge, in the-centre, is much larger, and 
distinguished by the flags upon it, two British and two American colors. The shores are lined 
with canoes, and the village extends an eighth of a mile along the river. The country, for the 
first seven miles after leaving camp and striking the St. Anthony road, is a wet prairie. After 
leaving St. Anthony the country appears to rise towards the north; the road lies on the eastern 
bank of the Mississippi, along the plateau, which is generally timbered with the smaller 
varieties of oak, in some places forming beautiful groves. The wood is, however, of little 
value, save for fuel. Some tamarack swamps were seen, which furnish very useful timber, 
while the western bank is usually a bare prairie, with occasionally scattered woods, which 
contain the ordinary variety of forest trees, excepting pine, which is found only at two points, 
just above Clear Water creek. The face of the country is undulating, and abounds in small 
lakes, some with sandy and gravelly bottoms, but the greater number lying in the vicinity of 
the route are muddy, with rich vegetation on their edges and in their midst. The plateau is 
cut in by many small streams running into the Mississippi, the level of the water being much 
below the general level, and the banks are so steep as to require cutting to pass with wagons. 
The prevailing character of the Mississippi bottom from St. Anthony to Elk river is, 
immediately on the bank of the river, alow bottom; but a few feet above the level of the 
nra which terminates a short distance back in a slope which ascends to another plateau, from 
he cot, Wa a ООО 2.2... н 
bluffs. The river averages in width about 300 yards. ee ee 
GR EL = oe зак additional men were eget, among 
г . : 5 sometimes half-breeds, speak а jargon of 
patois French, Chippewa, and other Indian dialects. They are a hardy, willing, enduring 
