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Show !i , I 1.18 DANGEROUS SITUATION OF THE VESSEL----FORT OSAGE. steamer, but their efforts broke the rope, and they all tumbled one upon another, to the great amusement of those on board. By way of precaution, our vessel was fastened to a large tree, which proved our safety, for the rudder was soon afterwards deranged, and rendered unserviceable. It was repaired about two o'clock, but we soon run aground on a sand bank, where we were obliged to remain all night, in a rather unsafe situation, for the current, on the bank, was very strong, and we could not fasten the vessel to anything, so that we might easily have been carried down the stream ; the river, however, continued to subside. On the morning of the 19th a flat boat was procured, to lighten our vessel, by landing a part of the cargo, which was piled up in the wood, on the bank, and covered with cloths. Mr. Bodmer made a faithful sketch of this scene. (Plate IV.) At four o'clock in the afternoon, the crew had got the steamer off the sand bank into deeper water, on the right, a little below the mouth of Fishing Creek. Here our anchors, boats, &c, were taken on board, and three men left to take care of the landed goods, which consisted of the presents for the Indians in Major Dougherty's agency. The flat boat was sent back to its owner, on Fishing Creek, under the care of thirty men, who had to wade in the water to keep it afloat. After taking in fuel, for which the wood of the red mulberry and the ash is preferred, we proceeded slowly, and reached, at dusk, the hill, on the right bank, where Fort Osage, built, in 1808, by Governor Lewis, formerly stood. The ridge on which it was situated is free from wood, and cultivated, and the last posts and beams were taken away by the people in the neighbourhood. This part of the country was the chief abode of the Osages. Only ten years ago they were still at Cote-Sans-Dessein. They are peaceably disposed towards the Americans; and the Fur Company have trading posts in their territory. The whole tract, from the Osage River, through which we have passed, was formerly theirs, but they sold a part of it to the United States, and they are now entirely forced back into the prairies, on the river Arkansas. We lay to, for the night, a short distance below Fort Osage. On the 20th, in the morning, Blue Water River was hid from us, by a long island, on the steep banks of which large snags, covered with sand and earth, projecting very far, formed a threatening point. We had scarcely passed it, when we run aground on a sand bank. The engine was immediately backed ; but the current carried the vessel so close to the above point, that it tore away our side gallery with a great crash. The carpenter soon repaired it, and our progress was now more favourable. At noon we had 68F Fahrenheit. At this time a thunder-storm arose, accompanied with hail and rain. The rain continued to fall in torrents till we reached the landing-place of the village of Liberty, which is at some distance from the river. Some buildings and detached houses were situated on the bank, in front of the wooded mountains, where the vigorous vegetation, refreshed by the rain, was very brilliant. The tall, slender, forest trees, grow among picturesque rocks; the beautiful flowers of the red bud tree, bright green moss, and a thick carpet of verdure, chiefly consist- |