108 T. C. ELLIOTT
To follow the Onondago River to Oswego upon Ontario Lake : and to coast the South Shore of that Lake to the Post of Niagara. To pass the Portage of the great Falls of that Name, and to enter the (river issuing?) [obliterated] from Lake Erie: To stem that River and to follow the Northern Shore of Lake Erie up to the River of Detroit : To cross the small Lake of Saint Clair, into the River Huron; to stem this River up to the Lake of that Name, and to coast the western Shore of that Lake to the Strait and Post of Michilimakinak : To cross the north End of Lake Michigan, to the Green Bay, where formerly was the Post of La Baye : To enter the Sakis River, to stem it to the carrying Place, and to cross that to the River Ouiscongens : To pursue the Course of this River to the Junction with the Mississippi, and to work-up against the Stream of that great River to the Fall of Saint Antoine, where it is proposed to arrive about the Middle of the Month of September, and to pass the First Winter.
Here the Men will be employed in Housing for the Winter, in trapping Beaver for present Consumption ; in gathering wild Rice; and in curing Buffalo and Venison, against the B'reak- ing-up in the ensuing Spring, and their Subsistence onward.
From the Falls of Saint Antoine it is proposed to depart in the Month of April of the second Year: to enter the River Saint Pierre, 1 and to stem that to the Source in about the forty fourth Degree of Latitude: To cross a twenty Mile Portage into a Branch of the Misouri, and to stem that north- westerly to the Source: To cross thence a Portage of about thirty Miles, into the great River Ourigan : to follow this great River, through a vast, and most populos Tract of Indian Country to the Straits of Anian, and the Gulf or Bay project- ing thence north-easterly into the Continent and there to pass the second Winter.
Here an Intercourse of Traffic will be opened with the Indians, to procure every necessary Article of Subsistence. A Stock of Cod-Fish, and other Victualling will be cured, & a Purchase of Boats or Craft, peculiar to these Parts will be completed.
i Now the Minnesota river. Its source is at about 45 45' and a portage directly west to the Missouri river would be about 150 miles..
