Volume 1

142 GOOSE RIVER.
Here we stopped for the night—indeed
this was the extent
of our journey to the S., as nothing could induce our guide
to cross Goose river. For we were near the enemies' land ;
we had seen several war camps during the day, and here
we found the sign of 30 tents of last year, which our
guide assured me was a Sioux camp. We saw also poles
on which they had stretched beaver skins, old broken
horse-travailles," some tent-poles, and plenty of horsedung.
Goose river takes its water from the Hair hills, in
small lakes and large marshes. It has several branches,
but three principal ones, which join a short distance after
leaving Hair hills. The water is fresh, and the bed hard
with stones, gravel, and sand ; its course is very winding.
Beavers appear to be very numerous, but we kept as
quiet as possible, made no fire, fired no gun, and held our
horses always near us ; while the Indian was continually
on the lookout from the tops of the oaks. We crossed
Goose river here without any trouble, and I climbed up one
of the highest trees to have a view southward. The country
appeared the same as that we had passed through, open
and level, with no woods to be seen, excepting those on
Red and Goose rivers. The former holds its course from
then traverses Traill Co., on S. E. and finally E. courses. The main stream is
crossed in three places by railroads—at Portland, Mayville, and Hillsboro, all
in Traill Co. The county seat of the latter, Caledonia, is situated on the
river, close to its mouth. At this point Henry is just about 60 m. in an air line
from his fort, a little E. of S.
*3 Travail a cheval, pi. travails a cheval, literally horse-litter, also called in
English travail, travaille, travois, traverse, and travee. It is a sort of drag
much used by Indians, voyageurs, and coureurs in the Northwest. It consists
of two long poles, sometimes of several Indian lodge-poles, one end of each or
all of which is fastened to the horse's side, while the other drags on the ground.
The poles of opposite sides are connected by cross-pieces, or otherwise lashed
together, and a sacking of canvas or hides may be stretched between the poles
to complete a litter for the reception of a person or other things. The French
plural is often erroneously given as iravaux, as if it were the plural of travail,
meaning "work"; but it has nothing to do with this, the etymology of the
word being from Lat. trabeculum, diminutive of trabs, a beam, through such
forms as travallum and trabale, meaning a trave, brake, or shackle.