Old Fort Snelling | Page 9

payment for the reservation ceded by them to Pike.[66] Day after day passed. Finally, on July 17th a certain Mr. Shaw came with news that the recruits could be expected soon. On July 31st this curt entry is made in Forsyth's journal: "no boats, no recruits, no news, nor anything else from St. Louis." The next day Major Marston was sent with twenty-seven troops to garrison Fort Armstrong at Rock Island; and on August 2nd Forsyth recorded: "Thank God a boat loaded with ordnance and stores of different kinds arrived to-day, and said a provision boat would arrive to-morrow, but no news of the recruits."[67]
Colonel Leavenworth at once made preparations to ascend the river. The two large boats that had brought up supplies were engaged, and at eight o'clock on the morning of Sunday, August 8th, the flotilla set out--the two large boats, fourteen bateaux, the boat of Major Forsyth, and the barge of Colonel Leavenworth. In the party were ninety-eight soldiers and twenty boatmen. There were others also whose presence in that wild region would not be expected: Mrs. Gooding, the wife of one of the captains; Mrs. Nathan Clark, the wife of the commissary; and little Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark, who had been born scarcely an hour after the regiment reached Fort Crawford. The knowledge that they were upon the last stage of their journey caused a feeling of cheerfulness among the soldiers, and the first day they proceeded a distance of eighteen miles.[68]
For sixteen days the boatmen poled their bateaux up the river. Once when there was a "Great appearance of wind" the sails were hoisted. At other times the heavily loaded boats were moved with difficulty through the shallow water. Occasionally fog and rain impeded their progress. Bad water made half of the soldiers sick before the journey was ended; and to avoid the mosquitoes on the river, the men preferred to sleep on the banks, although every morning there was a heavy dew. On August 17th the lower end of Lake Pepin was reached and here a delay of several hours occurred while the men drew provisions from the supply boats, and washed their dirty linen.[69]
Major Forsyth stopped at the Indian villages to distribute presents and to announce to the natives the object of the coming of the troops, and the value they would derive from having a fort in their midst. On Sunday, August 22nd, he encamped a few miles ahead of the main body of the expedition, but by eight o'clock the next morning all the boats had come up. Impatient to reach the end of the journey, Major Forsyth again pushed forward and at four o'clock in the afternoon reached the mouth of the Minnesota River. On the morning of Tuesday, August 24, 1819, Colonel Leavenworth arrived in his barge ahead of the troops and spent almost the entire day in looking over the sites available for a camp. Finally, he decided upon a spot on the right bank of the Minnesota River, just above its mouth. There was no rest for the troops when their boats reached the chosen place. "They were immediately set to work in making roads up the bank of the river, cutting down trees, etc."[70]
If the soldiers had any spare time in their labors in which to become interested in their surroundings, there was novelty in everything about them. During the next few days all the nearby chiefs came to call upon their new neighbors: they left satisfied with the presents and the whiskey which they had received. On Saturday a party ascended to the Falls of St. Anthony; and on Sunday a visit was made to the Indian villages up the Minnesota River. It was on Monday that Major Forsyth began his return trip, and as the supplies in store were few and the long-expected recruits were needed for the erection of the camp buildings, Colonel Leavenworth set out with him for Prairie du Chien. On September 1st they met on Lake Pepin two boats and a bateau with one hundred and twenty soldiers on board. But Colonel Leavenworth continued to Prairie du Chien, where he remained some time to urge on any boats which might arrive. On September 5th the one hundred and twenty recruits landed at the new camp.[71]
Log cabins and a stockade were erected while the party still lived in the boats on the river. By November the temporary barracks were ready for occupation. Looking forward to a pleasant winter, the name "Cantonment New Hope" was applied to the embryo fort. The more scientific among the men examined the country round about, and saw in the hills visions of mines of precious metals. "Would not the employment of the troops in the manufacture of Copper and Iron be advantageous to the government?", wrote one