82 NARRATIVE ОҒ 1853. 
the red clay, lignite, and a white substance they contain, present a picturesque appearance. 
They sometimes have quaint forms, reminding one of old towns and castles seen at a distance. 
They are often called by the traders Mauvaisses Terres, on account of containing quagmires 
filled with clay, covered with a white incrustation, which gives the surface a firm appearance. 
Lieutenant Donelson went up in the Robert Campbell to a point about seven miles above the 
mouth of the Poplar, where difficulties from sand bars were encountered, which he thought 
could have been overcome, but the managers of the boat thought it best to return from that 
point, and therefore carried ashore the freight for Fort Benton, which was to be conveyed there 
by cordelling a large keel boat. In descending to Fort Union again, the boat travelled with 
nearly three times the speed made in ascending, and no material obstructions were met with. 
Wood was more abundant than below Fort Benton, chiefly cottonwood and willow. 
The Robert Campbell was forty-two. days ascending to Fort Union, and about seventeen in 
returning to St. Louis. The round trip, however, has been made in forty-four days, and, with 
suitable boats, could be made in even less time. The same steamboat can easily perform in 
one season four round trips from St. Louis to Fort Union. 
LIEUTENANT DONELSON’S EXPLORATION OF THE COUNTRY ABOUT FORT UNION. 
Lieutenant Donelson and his party, before our arrival at Fort Union, had made an exploration 
of the country north of Fort Union, between Big Muddy and White Earth rivers. Leaving 
artificer White at the fort to make meteorological observations and take care of the property, 
the remainder, twelve in number, left on the 12th of July, and travelled north-northwest up 
the valley of the Little Muddy for a distance of 42 miles, in a direct line from the fort; then, 
with a general direction easterly, crossing the heads of the Big Muddy to the head of the 
White Earth, 75 miles east of the Little Muddy; and following it down for thirty miles, left it 
and crossed the country westward, on a line nearly parallel to the Missouri, to Fort Union, 62 
miles to the west. The distance travelled, as estimated, including the sinuosities of the route, 
was two hundred and thirty-five miles, or twenty-six miles more than as above stated. He 
thus explored a tract from twelve to twenty-five miles wide on each side of our route, which 
passed nearly halfway between his two lines of survey in going out and returning. 
He gives the following account of the country: It may be characterized as a vast plain, 
destitute of timber, covered with boulders and pebbles of granite, limestone, &c., broken 
towards the.north by innumerable hillocks, between which are ponds, and towards the south, 
intersected by the branches of the Missouri. At the heads of the Big Muddy and White Earth 
is the most elevated part of the ridge or terrace, called the Grand Cóteau, appearing at a 
distance of six miles like a distant shore, about a hundred feet high, but the ascent was во 
gradual as to be imperceptible. A considerable depression in the country occurs in the valley 
of the Little Muddy, by which this Grand Cóteau сап be passed around. 
All the streams are small, and can be of no value for navigation; they are also liable to very 
high freshets. A chain of sand hills occurs about thirty-two miles northwest of Fort Union, 
covered with a thick growth of small willow. Near the head of Miry river is an outcrop of 
lignite, like that in the Missouri. 
I may here make a general review of the country on the route travelled by us since reaching 
the Bois de Sioux. 
