Wilkes on the coast of the Pacific ocean, so as to give a connected survey
of the interior of our continent, I proceeded to the Great West early in
the spring of 1843, and arrived, on the 17th of May, at the little town of
Kansas, on the Missouri frontier, near the junction of the Kansas river
with the Missouri river, where I was detained near two weeks in completing
the necessary preparations for the extended explorations which my
instructions contemplated.

My party consisted principally of Creole and Canadian French, and
Americans, amounting in all to thirty-nine men; among whom you will
recognise several of those who were with me in my first expedition, and
who have been favorably brought to your notice in a former report. Mr.
Thomas Fitzpatrick, whom many years of hardship and exposure, in the
western territories, had rendered familiar with a portion of the country
it was designed to explore, had been selected as our guide; and Mr.
Charles Preuss, who had been my assistant in a previous journey, was again
associated with me in the same capacity on the present expedition.
Agreeably to your directions, Mr. Theodore Talbot, of Washington city, had
been attached to the party, with a view to advancement in his profession;
and at St. Louis had been joined by Mr. Frederick Dwight, a gentleman of
Springfield, Massachusetts, who availed himself of our overland journey to
visit the Sandwich Islands and China, by way of Fort Vancouver.

The men engaged for the service were: Alexis Ayot, Francis Badeau, Oliver
Beaulieu, Baptiste Bernier, John A. Campbell, John G. Campbell, Manuel
Chapman, Ransom Clark, Philibert Courteau, Michel Crelis, William Creuss,
Clinton Deforest, Baptiste Derosier, Basil Lajeunesse, Francois
Lajeunesse, Henry Lee, Louis Menard, Louis Montreuil, Samuel Neal, Alexis
Pera, Francois Pera, James Power, Raphael Proue, Oscar Sarpy, Baptiste
Tabeau, Charles Taplin, Baptiste Tesson, Auguste Vasquez, Joseph Verrot,