soldiers brought from Canada, the voyageurs who had paddled
the great canoes, and the Indians who dogged always the steps of the
French traders, there was a muster at the fort of some scores of men.
La Verendrye reviewed the whole company and from them chose for his
expedition twenty soldiers and voyageurs and about twenty Assiniboine
Indians. As companions for himself he took Francois and Pierre, two of
his three surviving sons, and two traders who were at the fort.

We can picture the little company setting out on the 18th of October
on foot, with some semblance of military order, by a well-beaten trail
leading across the high land which separates the Red River country from
the regions to the southwest. La Verendrye had heard much of a people,
the Mandans, dwelling in well-ordered villages on the banks of a great
river and cultivating the soil instead of living the wandering life
of hunters. Such wonders of Mandan culture had been reported to
La Verendrye that he half expected to find them white men with a
civilization equal to that of Europe. The river was in reality not an
unknown stream, as La Verendrye hoped, but the Missouri, a river already
frequented by the French in its lower stretches where its waters join
those of the Mississippi.

It was a long march over the prairie. La Verendrye found that he could
not hurry his Indian guides. They insisted on delays during days of
glorious autumn weather when it would have been wise to press on and
avoid the winter cold on the wind-swept prairie. They went out of their
way to visit a village of their own Assiniboine tribe; and, when they
resumed their journey, this whole village followed them. The prairie
Indians had a more developed sense of order and discipline than the
tribes of the forest. La Verendrye admired the military regularity of
the savages on the march. They divided the company of more than six
hundred into three columns: in front, scouts to look out for an enemy
and also for herds of buffalo; in the center, well protected, the old
and the lame, all those incapable of fighting; and, for a rear-guard,
strong fighting men. When buffalo were seen, the most active of the
fighters rushed to the front to aid in hemming in the game. Women and
dogs carried the baggage, the men condescending to bear only their
weapons.

Not until cold December had come did the party reach the chief Mandan
village. It was in some sense imposing, for the Indian lodges were
arranged