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CLARK'S ROUTES
53

east of old Maysville, which was three-fourths of a mile south of the present Clay City station on the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railway. By this upper route Clark would have been on higher ground before and after crossing the Little Wabash. It is quite sure his party passed a salt spring (see p. 66) and the only one in this region was on this upper route. And finally, Bowman states that on the day after crossing the Little Wabash the party crossed the Fox River. This could not have been possible if the Little Wabash and Fox were crossed simultaneously. But even a slight discussion of the question may well be relegated to an appendix.[1] At either crossing-place, and the two are but a few miles apart, a most desperate situation confronted the intrepid Clark and his tired band of invaders.

" . . I Viewed this Sheet of water for some time with Distrust," Clark wrote in his Memoir, "but accusing myself of Doubting I amediately Set to work without holding any consultation about it or suffering anybody else to do so in my presence