peg and returned to the East by way of the fur
trader's route along the international boundary and Lake Superior. Fear
of the Indians living about the mouth of the Blue Earth River, one of
whose number had been arrested and sent to St. Louis for murder, had
suggested the necessity of the military escort. But when the place was
reached no trouble resulted, as the Indians had gone on their summer
hunt. Accordingly nine of the soldiers were sent back with canoes--some
of the supplies having been destroyed by accidents. Those who remained
had no easy task. There were only nine horses, and these were reserved
for the officers and "gentlemen" of the company, so that the privates
were obliged to walk.[449]

On August 9th when the party left Pembina behind, their number had
dwindled. Joseph Snelling, son of Colonel Snelling, who had gone with
them thus far, returned by the same route with three soldiers. J. C.
Beltrami, who had been allowed to cast his lot with theirs, and who had
been equipped and supplied by the Indian agent, who had presented him
with the "noble steed 'Cadmus'",[450] also left them. In company with
two Chippewas and a _bois-brule_ of Red River, he set out for the
southeast with the purpose of there finding the source of the
Mississippi. Upon a small lake, which he named Lake Julia, he conferred
the honor of being the head of the great river, while it seemed to him
that the "shades of Marco Polo, of Columbus, of Americus Vespucius, of
the Cabots, of Verazani, of the Zenos, and various others, appeared
present, and joyfully assisting at this high and solemn ceremony".[451]
After a journey of great suffering he was welcomed at Fort
Snelling--wearing a hat made of the bark of a tree, and clothes of
skins.[452]

Not until late in the fall did the connection of Fort Snelling with this
expedition cease, when the soldiers who had accompanied the party as far
as Sault Ste. Marie returned to their post by the Fox-Wisconsin route
after a journey rendered exceedingly disagreeable by the cold.[453]

In the summer of 1835 George Catlin and his wife spent several months at
Fort Snelling. Mr. Catlin was an artist who made a specialty of Indian
scenes, and his time was occupied in painting scenes of Indian
life and portraits of Indian chiefs. His studio was a room in the
officers' quarters, and his models were the natives who lingered about
the agency.

Mr. Catlin was extremely desirous of painting some pictures of India