WEST BANK OF RED RIVER. 



155 



south-western prairies on the Grand Coteau de Missouri 

 passes up the south side of this river for a distance of 

 thirty miles, cutting across the large and winding bends of 

 the valley. 



The country lying between it and the Assinniboine is 

 very marshy, and is covered with willows and clumps of 

 small aspen. In the valley of La Eiviere Sale, and along 

 both sides, grow oak and elm and some fine ash, many 

 of the trees being two feet in diameter ; this narrow 

 forest extends the whole way up the river on the north 

 bank. On the south side there is a prairie apparently as 

 level and boundless as the ocean ; the grass on it is most 

 beautiful and luxuriant, indicating the richness of the soil. 



The valley is about a quarter of a mile wide and forty 

 feet deep, abounding in salt springs, which make the 

 water in the river quite brackish, from which it derives 

 its name. The river higher up opens out into small lakes, 

 and rises from an extensive marsh. The track here joins 

 the hunters' track from the White Horse Plain ; it then 

 turns to the south, in which direction it goes for about 

 twenty-five miles through open prairies, until it crosses "La 

 Eiviere des lies des Bois," a river fifteen feet wide and 

 two deep, flowing into the Scratching Eiver. This portion 

 of the country is all a level prairie, the greater part of it 

 being wet and marshy, except near the last-named river, 

 where it is quite dry for five miles ; the land is a rich 

 sandy loam, yielding most luxuriant grass. On both sides 

 of the river there is a skirting of trees, chiefly of oak, 

 averaging one foot six inches in diameter. 



The buffalo hunters, when they have crossed this little 

 river, begin to keep a sharp look-out for the Sioux, and to 

 take their usual precautions, such as setting watches by 

 night and placing their carts in a ring. 



The track, continuing in the same direction, crosses a 



