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 lake. After a long journey southward they found the shore of the lake trending too much to the east, when they abandoned their canoes and struck out on foot over the vast prairie, with the setting sun as their guide. In due time they reached the great river, and were soon at a trading-post.

Copper was a metal very much needed in Aristopia. Unalloyed and in brass and bronze it was far better adapted to many uses than iron, which was very plentiful in the country. There was plenty of zinc from which to make brass, but all the copper used had to be imported from Europe. So it was decided by the government of Aristopia to take possession of these copper mines, although they were far beyond the charter limits of the commonwealth.

The Elenwah River, emptying into the Mississippi about twenty-five miles above the mouth of the Mizouri, could be ascended by horse-boats to within about a hundred miles of the shore of the great Lake Michigan. At this head of navigation a post was established. A fort was built of prairie sods, and armed with three six-pound cannons. Houses were built of lumber, brought up on the boats. For the post on Lake Michigan a point was selected