On October 16, 1738, when the autumn winds
were already chill, there was a striking little parade at Fort La
Reine. The drummer beat the garrison to arms. What with 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.
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