floods of the river. As has been already remarked, it is well timbered;
with an excellent soil, and recommends itself to notice as the best point
for a military position on the Lower Platte.

On the 22d we arrived at the village of the Grand Pawnees, on the right
bank of the river, about thirty miles above the mouth of the Loup fork.
They were gathering in their corn, and we obtained from them a very
welcome supply of vegetables.

The morning of the 24th we reached the Loup fork of the Platte. At the
place where we forded it, this stream was four hundred and thirty yards
broad, with a swift current of _clear_ water; in this respect,
differing from the Platte, which has a yellow muddy color, derived from
the limestone and marl formation, of which we have previously spoken. The
ford was difficult, as the water was so deep that it came into the body of
the carts, and we reached the opposite bank after repeated attempts,
ascending and descending the bed of the river, in order to avail ourselves
of the bars. We encamped on the left bank of the fork, in the point of
land at its junction with the Platte. During the two days that we remained
here for astronomical observations, the bad weather permitted us to obtain
but one good observation for the latitude--a meridian altitude of the sun,
which gave for the latitude of the mouth of the Loup fork, 41 deg. 22' 11".

Five or six days previously, I had sent forward C. Lambert, with two men,
to Bellevue, with directions to ask from Mr. P. Sarpy, the gentleman in
charge of the American Company's establishment at that place, the aid of
his carpenters in constructing a boat, in which I proposed to descend the
Missouri. On the afternoon of the 27th we met one of the men, who had been
dispatched by Mr. Sarpy with a welcome supply of provisions and a very
kind note, which gave us the very gratifying intelligence that our boat