"
On the twenty-first of the month, all the needed preparations having
been finished, the arduous work of making the portage, or carry, was
begun. All the members of the expedition were now together, and the two
captains divided with their men the labor of hunting, carrying luggage,
boat-building, exploring, and so on. They made three camps, the lower
one on Portage Creek, the next at Willow Run (see map), and a third at
a point opposite White Bear Islands. The portage was not completed until
July second. They were often delayed by the breaking down of their rude
carriages, and during the last stage of their journey much of their
luggage was carried on the backs of the men. They were also very much
annoyed with the spines of the prickly pear, a species of cactus,
which, growing low on the ground, is certain to be trampled upon by the
wayfarer. The spines ran through the moccasins of the men and sorely
wounded their feet. Thus, under date of June twenty-fourth, the journal
says (It should be understood that the portage was worked from above and
below the rapids):--
"On going down yesterday Captain Clark cut off several angles of the
former route, so as to shorten the portage considerably, and marked it
with stakes. He arrived there in time to have two of the canoes carried
up in the high plain, about a mile in advance. Here they all repaired
their moccasins, and put on double soles to protect them from the
prickly pear, and from the sharp points of earth which have been formed
by the trampling of the buffalo during the late rains.
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