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Show l No.2. J LIEUTENANT WILKINSON'S REPORT OF IllS Pi~SSAGE DOWN THE ARI<.ANSA\V, &c. ::; 11~, AG R }•.EABL Y to your o1·dcr dated iu J unc, 1806, I took th)' d<'parturc from Delle Fontuine, un(ler the command of lieu tenant I>jkc, cat ly in Julv. The Missouri being well up, we found the na· ' 'iKation •1s favor;hlc as could have been expected. On .the 28tl~ of the same Jnouth, we reached the mouth or the Osage nver, wlliCh we found u pclluci<l, tranquil ::,t ream, with the cxcc.ption of a ~cw triflin g· ripples, ancl a f..dl or about six feet in two-.tlurds ~fa n.ulc, called the Uld \Jan's Rapid. The rivet· abounds wlth vanous kmc.ls of p·oocl fish, especially the soft-shcllecl turtle, which '' ~ took Ill grc:t nun1bcn;. The banks of the ri"er arc. ~cncrally form~d.~~ nagt;y cliffs, ancl not nnfrequently you pcrCcl\'C stupl'nclous 1.ock projecting- O\ r the water, out of which issue' cxccllcn~ sprlll~~· Tl1c lllOSt rl'markablc llatur,\1 curiosity which I obsencd lS a pon<l of w•1tc.r, about three hundrrcl toiscs in ciruunt'crenre, six mib <~b<H c the Yanga, on a ri~in~ piece of gt·ound, considerably ,dJOrc the lcvdtJt' the ri\(~r, \\ hich keeps one continued height, is per· fcrl ly pure and tr,.msparcnt, and has no outlt.l by '~hich to di::;chargc itself. . . On the 12th of Augost the O sages nppeared diss.tti~ficd wllh the tedious lnO\ ClllC11l of Olll' barges, and C. pressed a wi~h tO Cl'O~) tile prai1·ie tv thcit· villages, in case an escort was allowed them. 1 !nuncdwtdy ,·oluntccrcd my scrvic<.:s, <md we parted w1· t11 t 11 c• bout:-·, APPENDIX TO PART II. u~ the mouth of Grand river, the spot where our ransomed prison. ers were taken the preceding winter hy the Potowatomies. \Ve reached the village of the little Osages, ai'tcr a fatiguiug and laborious march of six days, across an arid prairie. \Vhen within a mile of the town, the chief 1'uttasuggy or the Wind, desired a regular procession might be obsc1 vcd and accot·dingly he placed me between himself and hi::; first waniot·, and the ransomed captives followed by files. Half a mile frorn the village li'C were met by one hundred and eighty horsemen, painted and de~ coratcd in a very fanciful mauner: those were considcrecl a<; a guard of honor, and 011 our approach, opened to the rif{ht and left, leaving a sufficient space fo1· us to pass through. A few yards in advance on the right I perceived sixty or more horsemen painted with a blue chalk, which, when the chief observed, he commanded a halt, and sent forward his young-e1· brother .A 't::uma or the Rain that 1/'Qiks, with a flag and ~ilk handkerchief as a prize for the swiftest horseman. At a given sig-nal they started oll' at full speed. The two foremost taking the fl.tg and handkerchief, nnd the rest contcntw ing themselves with haring shewn th i1· agility and skill. As. I entercu the 'illagc, I was saluted by a discharge from fout· SWivels (which the Indians had taken from an old fort erected by the Spaniards on the rivc1·) and passtd tlu·oug-h a Cl'owd of uearly a thousand persons, part of \'r hom I lear11L were of the ~~·and village. I was immrcliately, but with ceremony, ushered into the lodge of the Soldhr qf the Oak, who, after having paid me some vct'y l~antlsome compliments, co11rteously invited me to cat of green COt·n, buU~tlo meat and watt·t·-mcJons about the sir.c of a twentyfour- pound shot, which, thollgh small, were highly ILt\'OI'Cd. After lieutenant Pike's arrival with the boats, \\tC formed om· camp on the bank of the rivc•r, equi-distant from the villages of the nt·and a~d Little Osag<.'s, and he selected a situation for making hi·, obscrrauons, '' hich he did not complete until the ~8th of tht month. ·~·he 29th an~ 30th were devoted to packing- a<> conveniently and carelully us pos~Iblc the math ·n1a tical insu·umc11ts and a sm31J quantity ofpt·o,.isions, and on the 1st of -'cptcmbcr we comm(·nccu out· march fo1· the Pawnee r pllblic, and <·ntct·cd on that vast and exten!-.ivc prait·ic, n IJicli lies between the ..\lissouri and the Hio del Nol'le. We coursed the Osag-e riv r to ire:; source, aud ~lmo~limmcdi atcly after Ct Ohstd some of t!Jc small br,mchcs of (~r:.~nd ril"Cl' whi ~h cntct·s the Ark.l11saw about St'vcn hundred miles from the .\li~..,issij)p'r A'"t · 1• • (' I . I . I . I . · · · l <·1 l)a..,..,wg •1\l!H rJYt· t·. w , ,,. 1 • C' tnnnc tf) be Sl'xty |