CLARK'S MEN ON THEIR WAY THROUGH THE DROWNED LANDS OF THE WABASH VALLEY
On the march
Clark divided his men into parties. Each, in its turn, did the hunting, and at night invited the others to sit around great camp fires to feast on "bear ham, buffalo hump, elk saddle, and venison haunch." They ate, sang, danced, and told stories. No doubt they often talked of their loved ones far away in the cabins of Virginia and Kentucky.
The drowned lands
On they pushed till they came to the "drowned lands of the Wabash," and there they saw miles and miles of muddy water. They made a rude boat to carry them over the deepest parts. The horses had to swim.
THE BIG TROOPER CARRIED THE DRUMMER BOY
The morning gun
Soon they were near enough Vincennes to hear the "morning gun" at the fort, but they did not dare fire a gun themselves for fear of being discovered by parties of hunters. Food grew scarce, game was hard to find, and starvation threatened them.