As long as this lasted the journey was by no means hard; but by the end of a week conditions had changed, for they had reached the drowned lands of the Wabash.
Coming first to the two branches of the Little Wabash, they found the floods so high that the land between the two streams was entirely under water, and they were facing a mighty river five miles wide and at no point less than three feet deep, while, of course, in the river beds it was much deeper.
But Clark was resourceful. He at once had his men build a pirogue, or dugout canoe. In this he rowed across the first branch of the river, and on the edge of the water-covered plain put up a scaffold. Then the men and the baggage were ferried across in the pirogue, and the baggage was placed on the scaffold. Last of all, the pack-horses swam the channel, and standing by the scaffold in water above their knees, received again their load of baggage.
Clark’s Advance on Vincennes.
All then proceeded to the second channel, which was crossed in the same way. It took three days to build the pirogue and cross the two branches of the river.
During this time hunger was added to the other sufferings of the men, for the flood had driven all the wild animals away, so that there was no longer any game to shoot. Advance was slow and extremely tiresome, for the men had to march from morning till night up to their waists in mud and water. They were nearing the Great Wabash River.
On February 20 the men were quite exhausted. There had been nothing to eat for nearly two days. Many of the creoles were so downcast that they began to talk of going home. Clark, putting on a brave face, laughed and said: “Go out and kill a deer.”
But meanwhile his men, acting under orders, had built three canoes, and on the morning of the 22d the entire force was ferried across the Wabash.
Once on the side of the river where Vincennes stood, they began to feel more cheerful, for by night they expected to be at the fort.