it again be remarked, was written many years after the event—after Clark saw his great feat somewhat in the light we see it today. His letter to Mason, however, was written in the same year that the march was made; if not so self-laudatory, it is as interesting as the memoir, and perhaps more authentic. He thus described the crossing in that document: "This [flood] would have been enough to have stopped any set of men not in the same temper that we were. But in three days we contrived to cross by building a large canoe, ferried across the two channels; the rest of the way we waded, building scaffolds at each to lodge our baggage on until the horses crossed to take them." Bowman's record is that of the soldier: "14th. Finished the canoe and put her into the river about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 15th. Ferried across the two Wabashes, it being then five miles in water to the opposite hills, where we encamped. Still raining. Orders not to fire any guns for the future, but in case of necessity."
When, near Olney, Clark's men crossed the Fox River on the 16th of February, it
