Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/134



Sir:

I take the liberty of giving you an account of the voyage which I have made with one of my brothers and two Frenchmen sent by my father, honored by your orders to proceed to discover the Western Sea by way of the country the Mantanes [Mandans] according to the accounts of the Indians.

We departed from Fort La Reine on April 29th and reached the Mantanes on May 19th. We remained there until July 23rd, awaiting the Gens des Chevaux, whom we were led to expect from day to day. Since the season was advancing and I absolutely refused to give up the expedition, I sought from among the Mantanes two men to guide us to the country of the Gens des Chevaux, in the hope of finding some village near the mountain or along our route; two offered their services willingly. We left without a moment's delay. We marched for twenty days west southwest, which did not augur well as to our route; we encountered no human being, but many wild beasts. I noticed in several places soils of different colors, such as blue, a vermillion shade, meadow green, shining black, chalk white, and others the color of ochre. If I had foreseen at that time that I should not return through these regions, I would have taken some of each kind. I could not burden myself, knowing