Page:Historic highways of America (Volume 7).djvu/182

 ravine is obscure and hard to locate from the river; the view being obstructed by the forest trees. Many of the original trees are still standing many red-cedars, the latter evidently being the progeny of a grand old cedar, a stately monarch of the portage landing, which reaches to the height of over sixty feet, with a girth of more than eight feet at its base The trunk  has been covered by the sand and soil washed from above, to a depth of between seven and eight feet Recently, June, 1897, the soil around the old cedar was removed and the measurements as stated were made. As the trunk was laid bare three great blaze-marks [were found], forming a rude cross, made by a wide-bladed axe, such as were in common use in the French colonies. Here was what we had suspected, one of the witness trees marked no doubt in early days to locate the portage."

Fort St. Joseph was located on the opposite side of the river from a Pottawatomie village, which was on the portage trail. The location of this fort and Indian settle-