Jason could not have been more
busy in preparing for his famous expedition to Argos. The military
element of the party consisted of a company of the 2d Infantry, with its
commissariat and medical department, numbering, all told, sixty-two men.
It was placed under the command of Capt. Boardman. They embarked in
three twelve-oared barges, and formed the advance. The provisions,
presents of goods, and subsistence supplies of the commissioners' table,
occupied four boats, and went next. I proceeded in a canoe _allege_ with
ten men, with every appendage to render the trip convenient and
agreeable. Col. McKenney, struck with "the coach-and-six" sort of style
of this kind of conveyance, determined to take a seat with me, and
relying upon our speed and capacity to overtake the heavy boats, we
embarked a day later. The whole expedition, with flags and music, was
spread out over miles, and formed an impressive and imposing spectacle
to the natives, who saw their "closed lake," as Superior was called in
1820, yield before the Anglo-Saxon power.
Pages:
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555