The Young Alaskans on the Missouri

and beautiful state of Missouri and its rich bottom lands, its many towns, its farms and timber lands and prairies. Many an

the current boiled and hissed ominously; but the handlers of the boat were well used to bad water on thei

said Jesse. "Clark says they got a lot, sometimes two a day, and they

eeds and vines in these bottoms, and if they got back in very far they had to guess where

s so fair skinned," said John. "One of his regular entries all al

it, but he seems to have had no confidence at all in his own spelling. Look here: on June 1st he has a 'jentle brease,' and on June 20th a 'jentle breese'; but not content when he got it right, he calls it a 'gentle Breeze' the next time, then drops

an!" snickered

more for me, so I could make a photo of it; and he said, 'Why, I didn't make him pitch-he just done

then, but was watching the smoke clouds ahead. Passing trains w

n," said he. "We've crossed the whole and entire state of Missouri, t

left, was going back, and even the new boat landing of Westport was within the year to be called Kansas

e, Kansas City took up the ox whip. When th

and now I want you to study this great city here, hardly more than threescore years and ten of

regon Trail, too-next year,

man above La Charette, and not one here. To them this was just the mouth of the Kansas, or 'Kansau,' River, and little enough could they le

lark speaks of the deer killed the day they got here, June 26th, and says, 'I observed a great number of Parrot quetts this evening.' That Carolina parrakeet is mentioned almost all the way across Kansas by the Oregon Trail men, and it used to be thick in mid

And the grass tall as a man's waist, and 'leavel,' as they called it. Is it any wonder that Will Clark got worked up over some of the views he saw

tances with Clark? How long did

ied Jesse, the youngest of them al

d twenty days to it-averaging only nine and a half or ten miles a day of actual travel in that part of the river. Clark fails once or twice to log the day's distance. Gass calls it sixteen hundred and ten miles from the start to Mandan-I make it about fifteen hundr

se we allow a month to get up to Mandan-bringing us there by June 22d-call it June 30t

n!" said Je

we allow ourselves one month, we'll only have to go four or five times as fast as they did. I've known a flat bottom 'John boat' do forty miles a day on the Current River of Missouri with only

're done with t

caught this far, and it's three wall-eyes and twelve catfis

many could we all catch in thirty days? That's getting out of my depth, Jesse! I don't know, but I

impudent little motors making as much noise as the next along the water front. Many a head was turned to catch sight of their curious twin-screw craft, with the flag at it

to which a houseboat was moored, occupied

as the man poked his head out of th

the other. "I never expected ye could make i

erformance of the party. "You see, we've got double engines and we travel under fo

d Johnson, not crediting their run

on your boat so it can't be stolen. Overrun our engines and

he

Company of Volunteers for Northwestern Discovery will like to look around a little. We'll stop

n. "I'll not fail ye, and I'll not

y the way, Johnson, which is the b

hich,

dence. We could walk down th

I'm sure I don't know what ye mean by Indypendence, or Westport. But if you wa

teau about unloaded, and it's about time for our mess to go ashore to the cook fire. Sergeant McIntyre, issue

without a smile the four stalked off up the stair, l