Old Fort Snelling | Page 9

key,
and I shall unlock it and go on." Upon receiving this belligerent reply,
the chief allowed the troops to pass; and finally on June 30th the
bateaux were moored near Fort Crawford and Prairie du Chien.[65]
At Fort Crawford there was a tedious wait. Provisions, ordnance,
ammunition, and recruits were expected from St. Louis. On July 5th
Major Thomas Forsyth arrived from St. Louis. He had been ordered by
the War Department to bring two thousand dollars worth of goods to
the Sioux Indians in 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