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willing with 200 Men under proper Officers (a List of which Officers, he has ready to be presented when required) to Un- dertake a March for the Discovery of it, which tho' of great Length and Difficulty, will be not a little Facilitated and Shortened by the help of Indian Guides, & having Water Carriage a great part of the way, & by the carrying either of Bark Canoes from one River to another, or felling Trees on the Banks & making fresh Canoes where it shall be found Necessary.
The Rout Major Rogers proposes to take, is from the Great Lakes towards the Head of the Mississippi, and from thence to the River called by the Indians Ouragon, which flows into a Bay that projects North-Eastwardly into the (Country?) [multilated] from the Pacific Ocean, and there to Explore the said Bay and it's Outletts, and also the Western Margin of the Continent to such a Northern Latitude as shall be thought necessary.
Should this Design be patronized, Major Rogers thinks it would be Expedient and absolutely necessary, to Subserve this proposal, that he should be Appointed Governor Commandant of His Majesty's Garrison of Michlimakana and its Depend- ancies on the Great Lakes, & that he has a Deputy-Governor Commandant who is well acquainted with the Manners of the Indians, to remain constantly at the said Garrison, on whose Diligence, Steadiness and Integrity he can rely, and from whom at his Setting out, & while on his Journey, as well as at his Return, he may depend upon receiving what Assistance shall be requisite; And that the General Commanding in Chief 3 in North America, & Sir William Johnson 4 have Orders to give him their Assistance in their respective Departments as Occasion may require.
The proposal thus Encouraged, notwithstanding the Length & the Fatigues of such a Journey by Land, Major Rogers will undeitake to perfect the whole, in about Three Years, and Transmit to Great Britain an Authentic Account whether there is, or is not, such a passage, which in either Case he apprehends
3 At that time Gen. Thomas Gage, with headquarters in New York.
4 The Superintendent of Indian Affairs in America, residing near Albany at what became known as Johnson Hall.
