retarding our
movements and to prevent our horses from having forage. The wind being
high, it carried the burnt dirt and ashes along in clouds, flying into
our eyes, and they became very painful and bloodshot. Was appointed
officer of the guard for the night, and, by using three reliefs of 15
men each, dug six rifle-pits for the protection of the camp.

October 15th. Aroused the camp at 4 o'clock, struck the tents, and was
on the march by 6 a.m. Following up the Lac qui Parle, at 10 o'clock
we captured four prisoners,--an Indian warrior, a half-breed boy, and
two squaws. The half-breed was a son of Roubillard, a Frenchman who
lived back of us in St. Paul, in 1851. I used to play with him. He
speaks French, English, and Sioux, and gave us much information about
what we were after. A short distance beyond we crossed the state line
into Dakota Territory. William Wallace, E. J. Van Slyke, and I visited
one of the line posts, which was marked, "26 miles from Big Stone Lake"
(located about 8 miles north of Gary, South Dakota); and the other
three sides were marked "Minnesota," "Dakota," and "1859." Wallace was
on the survey and helped plant the post. In order to celebrate the
event, each of us, with one foot in Dakota and the other in Minnesota,
shook hands together. We were now in sight of Re Wakan or Spirits Hill
(so named by the Dakotas). Although distant, the appearance of the
Coteau des Prairies, as they loom up like a dark wall against the clear
western sky, is very beautiful. Halted in a hollow for a lunch. The
scouts returned and reported 19 Indian lodges ahead, which made the men
feel joyful at the prospect of a fight. Marched three miles further and
camped for the night in a beautiful dell at the headwaters of the Lac
qui Parle. One wagon and six Indians were brought in. Of those captured
up to this time, the young men were held as prisoners, and the squaws
and children were given into the custody of the old men and ordered to
report at Camp Release, and they faithfully followed the instructions.

October 16th. During the night wolves were howling in the vicinity of
the camp. Left camp before daylight and commenced ascending the Coteau
des Prairies, the highest table-land in this section of the United
States, and full of lakes. A chain of twenty or more lakes could be
seen from the highest point, which form the headwaters of the Lac qui
Parle, Yellow Medicine, and Whetstone Rivers, on one side, and furnish
many tri