find the Mississippi, or some Indians
who could give him information upon that point. Failing in all these,
he decided upon a more extensive exploration.

The property at the settlement now consisted of only two hundred
muskets, two hundred swords, one hundred kegs of powder, three thousand
pounds of bullets, three hundred pounds of lead, several bars of steel
and of iron to be hammered into nails, and a tolerable supply of
farming and mechanic tools. They had no ploughs, horses, or oxen.
Without these, farming could be carried on only upon a very limited
scale. They had, however, twenty barrels of flour, a puncheon and a
half of wine, a few gallons of brandy, one or two swine, and one cock
and hen.

The exploring party of fifty set out in two bands, in October, from the
bay, which he had named St. Louis. M. Joutel was left in command at the
settlement, with the strictest injunctions to have no intercourse with
the Indians. One band ascended the river in boats. The other followed
along upon the shore. Having ascended the river many leagues, and being
fully convinced that it was not a branch of the Mississippi, they drew
their boats upon the eastern shore, and all commenced their march, over
the boundless prairies, with packs upon their backs, toward the rising
sun.

Ere long they saw in the distance an Indian village, consisting of a
cluster of thirty or forty wigwams. It was delightfully situated. The
Indians, in locating their villages, ever had a keen sense of landscape
beauty. It is difficult to account for the fact that, under the
leadership of La Salle, there should have been a battle. But it was so.
We have no explanation of the circumstances. After a brief conflict,
the savages fled, many being wounded and probably some killed, for they
were accustomed to carry their dead with them on a retreat.

La Salle and his party entered the abandoned village. They found,
cowering in one of the wigwams, a woman who had been struck by a bullet
in the neck, and who was dying. A young girl was with her. Just after
this, La Salle sent a party of six men to explore a stream. After a
toilsome day the party encamped for the night. They built their fire,
cooked their supper, and, without establishing any watch, wrapped
themselves in their blankets for sleep.

The next day they did not return. La Salle's anxieties were roused. He
set out in search of them. The dead bodies of the six were found,
pierced with arrows, scalped, a