Note II-53 — Chapter II · ITINERARY, CONTINUED: ST. PAUL TO LEECH LAKE, SEPTEMBER 22D, 1805-JANUARY 31ST, 1806.

Jan. 29th and 30th are not entered in the diary, and there is intrinsic evidence of confusion in Pike's notes. Observe the statement made under "Feb. 1st" that Pike reached Leech l. at 2.30 p. m., crossed it to the house and arrived there about 3 p. m.—12 m. in about half an hour, an obvious impossibility. Observe also that Boley was his only soldier according to Jan. 26th and 27th; but that Miller was the man with him on the 28th and later days. What became of Boley and where did Miller come from? We have not a word about the main party; in fact we are never told by what route they reached Leech l.—simply that they got there five days after Pike, at 4 p. m., Feb. 6th: see that date. Fortunately the early text of 1807, pp. 37-40, clears the whole matter up, as follows: "After the whole party had arrived at this lodge [Grant's house, evening of Jan. 28th], Mr. Pike determined to proceed on to the head of the river [Leech l.], accompanied by one of his young men, named Miller. He left the camp on the morning of the 29th, when it was snowing very fast," etc., reached Pokegama falls at 1 p. m.; soon after found three deserted Chippewa lodges, and "a fine parcel of split wood"; cut down three balsam-firs to make a shelter, and camped. Jan. 30th, passed through the "dismal cypress swamp," found Mr. Grant's cut-off and reached the inhospitable Chippewas, who were living at or near White Oak pt. (All this is given on the 28th in the above text; this is where the break was made, though there is no break in the week-days, for the entry "Tuesday, Jan. 28th," covers that day, Wednesday 29th, and Thursday 30th, as shown by what I have bracketed in the text.) Jan. 31st, Pike and Miller continued on from White Oak pt. and went past the mouth of the Leech Lake fork to some point on that fork, described above as "one mile below [i. e. beyond] the traverse of the meadow," in the 1807 text as "a mile above the meadow"; camped there. Feb. 1st, reached Leech l. "a little after midday," p. 39 of the 1807 text, agreeing with 2.30 p. m. of above text well enough; across the lake it was "12 miles" to the establishment of the North West Company, at which they arrived about ten o'clock in the evening. "The gates were locked," etc., p. 40.