itt and
entered the Ohio, prepared for a journey of some thousands of miles in
length.

It was in the summer of the year 1778 that these bold men set out on a
perilous journey from which few of them were to return. But what might
come troubled them little. The weather was pleasant, the trees along the
stream were charming in their summer foliage, and their hearts were full
of hope and joy as they floated and rowed down the "Beautiful River," as
it had been named by the Indians and the French.

They needed, indeed, to be alert and watchful, for they knew well that
hundreds of hostile savages dwelt in the forest depths on both sides of
the stream, eager for blood and scalps. But the rough frontiersmen had
little fear of the Indians, with the water beneath them and their good
rifles beside them, and they sang their border songs and chatted in
jovial tones as they went steadily onward, eating and sleeping in the
boats, for it was nowhere safe to land. In this way they reached the
mouth of the Ohio in safety and turned their prows into the broader
current of the Mississippi.

The first important stopping-point of the expedition was at the spot
made historic by De Soto and Marquette, at the mouth of the Arkansas
River, or the Ozark, as it was then called. Here stood a Spanish fort,
near the locality where La Salle, a century earlier, had spent a
pleasant week with the friendly Arkansas Indians. Colonel Rogers had
been told about this fort, and advised to stop there and confer with its
commander. As he came near them, he notified the Spaniards of his
approach by a salvo of rifle shots, firing thirteen guns in honor of the
fighting colonies and as a salute to the lords of the stream. The
Spanish officer in command replied with three cannon shots, the woods
echoing back their report.

Colonel Rogers now landed and marched at the head of his men to the
fort, over them floating the Stars and Stripes, a new-born standard yet
to become glorious, and to wave in honor all along that stream on whose
banks it was then for the first time displayed. As they came near the
fort they were met by the Spanish commandant, Captain Devilie, with his
troops drawn up behind him, and the flag of Spain waving as if in salute
to the new banner of the United States. The Spaniard met Rogers with
dignified courtesy, both of them making low bows and exchanging words of
friendly greeting. Devilie invited his guest into the fort, and, by way
of enterta