FITTING-OUT CAMP. 
11 
mining geographical points, shall be made, in order to develop the character of the country through 
which the party may pass. 
“On or before the first Monday of February next, Captain Gunnison will report the result of 
his investigations.” 
Agreeably to these instructions, Captain Gunnison arrived at St. Louis on the 4th of June, and 
proceeded immediately to procure the necessary supplies and outfit for the party, in which he 
was greatly aided by Colonel Robert Campbell, of that city, whose well known courtesy, though 
severely taxed, was freely extended to us. These were shipped on the 9th, and landed on the 
15th of June, at Kansas, which is near the western border of the State of Missouri, and about a 
mile and a quarter below the junction of the Kansas river with the Missouri, in charge of Mr. 
Kern, who was to transport them to some point suitable for a “fitting out camp,” while Captain 
Gunnison, whom I accompanied, proceeded to Fort Leavenworth on duty relating to the escort 
of mounted riflemen which was to accompany the party. We were surprised, on our arrival in 
the afternoon, to find that no orders had been received at the fort, relating to the escort, for it 
was known that they had been issued some time previous. The opportune presence, however, 
at the post, of General Clark, commanding the department, obviated any delay on this account, 
as, after proper statements and explanations, he gave the necessary instructions for the escort to 
be equipped and fitted out in anticipation of the receipt of the orders referred to. At an early 
hour on the following morning we left Fort. Leavenworth, which is situated on the right bank of 
the Missouri river, in the Indian territory immediately west of that State. The day was fine, and 
the high, beautiful rolling prairie from Fort Leavenworth to the Kansas river, a distance of 
twenty-two miles, was covered with luxuriant grass, and profusely sprinkled with flowers. We 
passed some fine Indian farms of the Delaware nation, and respectable herds of stock grazing 
near the road. The creeks and rivulets were lined with timber, in which oak largely predomi¬ 
nated, extending back from the Kansas river, by our road, three or four miles. The descent to 
this river is abrupt at Delaware, a trading post among this people, where we crossed by a ferry, 
kept on the north side by themselves and on the opposite by the Shawnees, to whom the terri¬ 
tory belongs. Crossing a timbered, sandy bottom of half a mile in width, our road led up a 
steep hill, finely timbered, and again through fine Indian farms to the open prairie, in all respects 
like that of the morning. Arriving near Westport we fell in with our camp, and with pleasure 
alighted from the wretched stage to begin our arduous march. Our encampment was some five 
miles from Westport and the western line of the State of Missouri, selected by Mr. Kern in a 
fine grove near a spring, and surrounded by fine grass and an open prairie, and in the midst of 
the various Shawnee missions, which appeared well. The approximate elevation of this point 
above the Gulf of Mexico, as indicated by our barometers, is 990 feet, or 615 feet above low-water 
mark at St. Louis, as deduced from Dr. Geo. Engelmann’s valuable observations at that place, 
kindly furnished to aid the meteorological discussions in this report. The purchase of mules and 
horses and employing men suitable for the expedition occupied several days at this camp, and 
the breaking in of the teams and teamsters as many more, during which our camp was only 
moved to secure grass when the animals had fed it down near us. On the 20th, Brevet Captain 
R. M. Morris, first lieutenant, and Second Lieutenant L. S. Baker, with some thirty non-com¬ 
missioned officers and men of the regiment of Mounted Riflemen, with the necessary subsistence 
train, joined us as escort. The 21st of June was spent, as the previous two or three days had 
been, in breaking in wild mules; no others could be obtained on short notice, so large had been 
the demand by emigrants going west of the mountains. Nor were we more fortunate in procur¬ 
ing capable teamsters, the large trains which annually cross the plains having preceded us; but 
by industrious drilling, and replacing incompetent men by the trial of the skill of others, we 
deemed ourselves at evening in a condition to move forward the following morning. But at an 
early hour it began to rain in torrents, and continued during the day, so that it was impossible to 
do more than to harness up a few of the wildest mules to habituate them to their labors. On 
