It's Tuesday. I apologize for not posting yesterday, but due
to circumstances beyond my control....
As I write this, it's 52 degrees outside. I believe it's safe
to say that Spring has Sprung! At least in my corner of the world;-)
A slight variance from talking about Madame Dorion today—to
bragging about my radio play "The Cure" which can be found on http://www.radioheyday.com. Does your spouse have an addiction that is
disrupting your life? Spend 22 minutes and see how Winifred, with a little help
from Inky, is able to cure her husband of his addiction. And now, back to our
regularly scheduled programing.
18 July 1811. On this day, the Astorians numbered 62 people,
including Madame Dorion and her two sons. They had a total of 82 horses which
were allotted out as one horse for every two men so every one could ride part
of the time. Did Marie have her own horse, or did she have to share? I could
find no record. The hunters (one of whom was Pierre Dorion) each had their own
horse, and there were 40 pack horses. They began their journey overland,
following the Big or as it's now called, Grand River to the west. The journey
was a little slower than anticipated as Mr. Crooks, one of the partners, was
ill, and rode on a travois.
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| The mouth of the Grand River where it meets the Missouri. Both rivers are artificially large due to the dam downriver on the Missouri |
By the 24th July, they camped along the banks of the river
for several days, as too many of the men were sick to travel. Note, this is short grass prairie, not the tall grass prairie often depicted in the old west movies.
 |
| Most of these trees have been planted by the farmers along the river. |
The only trees grew along the river, and even there they
were not overly plentiful. The prairie was gentle hills, and short grass. Once
the expedition was again on the move four men, including Pierre, went hunting,
and got lost as there were no trees or other distinguishing features to guide
them. Fortunately, they found the trail of the expedition and all ended well.
They were out on the prairie for almost a month, following
the river to it's headwaters, at which time they turned south and west.
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| For those of us from the Pacific Northwest, this river isn't all that 'grand' but it certainly seemed so to the locals. |
One of the truly sad things about this trip is that Hunt did
not want Marie and the children along on the trip. In his only extant, and
translated from the original French to English journal, he referred to her four
times—as an Indian woman or as Dorion's woman, never by name. Unlike Sacagawea,
with whom Lewis and Clark were enamored, and so we know a great deal about her,
Hunt was not enamored with Marie, and yet we know that she more than earned her
keep, so to speak. She made moccasins for the men, added much to the cook pot,
and by virtue of being with them, let unknown Indians know they were friendly
people and not out to start a fight.
After the Grand River, are the Slim Buttes, I'll save those
photos for next week.
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