CHAPTER XIII.
THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS CHIEF AFFLUENTS.
While the expeditions lately described were in progress, efforts were
being made by private individuals to supplement the work of Lewis,
Clarke, and Pike. The lower course of the Red River was explored from
Natchez by Mr. Dunbar and Dr. Hunter, and its upper waters were navigated
by Dr. Sibley from Natchitoches, but nothing further was done
toward determining the true sources of the Mississippi itself, until 1820,
when Governor Cass, then in charge of Michigan territory, obtained permission
to visit the highlands of Minnesota, and the great expedition under
Long and James was sent by the United States Government to trace the
course of its mightiest affluent, the Missouri.
Cass and his companions, accompanied by an escort of thirty-eight men, left Detroit, the capital of Michigan, in the spring of 1820, and made their way along the coasts of Lakes Huron and Superior to the borders of Minnesota, where they struck comparatively new ground, crossing the lovely basin of the St. Lawrence in a north-westerly direction, and reaching the shores of Sandy Lake in the middle of July. On the 17th of the same month, the canoes brought for the purpose were launched on the waters of the Mississippi, and the actual voyage of exploration began.
The strong current of the mighty Father of Waters rendered the ascent extremely arduous, and after a struggle, extending over one hundred and fifty miles, a series of impassable cataracts were reached, necessitating the carrying of the canoes and baggage for a considerable distance overland.
Beyond these cataracts, the Mississippi wound through extensive and beautiful plains, haunted by deer, buffaloes, and other large game, till the junction of the Leech Lake branch was reached, where the scenery became more mountainous. Another forty-five miles brought the explorers to the vast expanse of clear water known as Lake Winnipeg, where the river takes a sudden bend of fifty miles to the west, expanding beyond into a lake larger than any that had yet been traversed. To this the name of Cass was
