Editor's Note:
Schoolcraft left a romantic account of this second day spent portaging:
"A of rain commenced during the night, and continued until noon, when the sun appeared for half an hour, but the afternoon continued dark and cloudy, with showers. We commenced carrying at six o'clock, notwithstanding the rain, and with great exertions, went ten pauses and encamped on the banks of a small brook.
"The difficulties of the portage have been very much increased by the rain, which has filled the carrying path with mud and water. We are advancing into a dreary region. -- Every thing around us wears a wild and sterile aspect, and the extreme ruggedness of the country -- the succession of swampy grounds, and rocky precipices -- the dark forest of hemlock and pines which overshadow the soil -- and the distant roaring of the river, would render it a gloomy and dismal scene, without the toil of transporting baggage, and the saddening influence of one of the most dreary days."
Location: near modern Scanlon, Minn.
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View this page in Schoolcraft's 1821 Narrative
Rained all day. Voyageurs and Indians complained bitterly. They were all astonished at the determination to proceed to day, they never having been accustomed to move in such weather.
