to
the water's edge; and to the right and in front, the St. Peter's, a
broad stream, worthy from its size, length of course, and the number of
tributaries which it receives, to be called the Western Fork of the
Great River itself. It is seen flowing through a comparatively open
vale, with swelling hills and intermingling forest and prairie,
for many miles above the point of junction. As it approaches the
Mississippi, the volume of water divides into two branches; that on the
right pursues the general course of the river above, and enters the
Mississippi, at an angle of perhaps fifty degrees, directly under the
walls of the fort; while the other, keeping to the base of the high
prairie lands which rise above it to a notable summit called the Pilot
Knob, enters the Mississippi lower down. The triangular island thus
formed between the rivers lies immediately under the fort. Its level
surface is partially cultivated, but towards the lower extremity thickly
covered with wood. Beyond their junction, the united streams are seen
gliding at the base of high cliffs into the narrowing valley below.
Forests, and those of the most picturesque character, interspersed with
strips of prairie, clothe a great portion of the distant view.

"A little cluster of trading houses is situated on the right branch of
the St. Peter's, and here and there on the shores, and on the island,
you saw the dark conical tents of the wandering Sioux. A more striking
scene we had not met with in the United States, and hardly any that
could vie with it for picturesque beauty, even at this unfavourable
season. What must it be in spring, when the forests put forth their
young leaves, and the prairies are clothed in verdure!"[215]

This "little cluster of trading houses" was the town of Mendota. Here
was the stone house of Henry H. Sibley, and that of J. B. Faribault.
Near the river was the ferry house and the home of Mr. Finley the
ferryman.[216] Upon the hillside lay the little Catholic chapel,
surrounded by the graves in the cemetery. But the center of interest was
in the warehouse and store of the American Fur Company, where the skins
of buffalo, elk, deer, fox, beaver, otter, muskrat, mink, martin,
raccoon, and other animals were sorted and divided into packs weighing
about a hundred pounds. Indians, Frenchmen, half-breeds, and restless
wanderers from the East were always loitering about the
establishment.[217]

From the fort a road led along the Mississ