"
Preparations were pushed with all speed. A large, flat-bottomed
boat, the Willing, was fitted out with four guns and was sent
down the Mississippi with forty men to ascend the Ohio and the
Wabash to a place of rendezvous not far from the coveted post. By
early February the depleted companies were recruited to their
full strength; and after the enterprise had been solemnly blessed
by Father Gibault, Clark and his forces, numbering one hundred
and thirty men, pushed out upon the desolate, windswept prairie.
The distance to be covered was about two hundred and thirty
miles. Under favorable circumstances, the trip could have been
made in five or six days and with little hardship. The rainy
season, however, was now at its height, and the country was one
vast quagmire, overrun by swollen streams which could be crossed
only at great risk. Ten days of wearisome marching brought the
expedition to the forks of the Little Wabash. The entire region
between the two channels was under water, and for a little time
it looked as if the whole enterprise would have to be given up.
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