It is dated 3d June, 1854:
"Navigation of the Mississippi River closes from the 10th to the 25th
of November, and opens from the 1st to the 10th of April. That of the
Red River of the North closes from the 1st to 16th November, and opens
from 10th to 25th April. I have often travelled in the winter from St.
Paul to Crow Wing, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, with a
single horse and sled, without a track, and have never found the snow
deep enough to impede my progress. I have also gone from Crow Wing,
beyond the head waters of the Mississippi, to the waters of the
Hudson's Bay, on foot and without snow-shoes. I spent one entire
winter travelling through that region, and never found the snow over
eighteen inches deep, and seldom over nine inches.
"For several years I had trading-posts extending from Lake Superior to
the Red River of the North, from 46 degrees to 49 degrees north
latitude, and never found the snow so deep as to prevent supplies
being transported from one post to another with horses. One winter,
north of Crow Wing, say 47 degrees north latitude, I wintered about
sixty head of horses and cattle without giving them food of any kind
except such as they could procure themselves under the snow.
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