North Fork Salmon River, impassable route — John Ordway: September 2, 1805

horses and set out about 7 oClock, and proceeded on. the way
we had to go was verry bad some places thick bushes and logs to
pass over, other places rockey. our course about N. E. crossed
several creeks or large Spring runs the water of which was verry
cold. Saw a nomber of large beaver dams and beaver ponds on
this creek, the pine and balsom fer timber tall and strait, and
pleanty. Some of the pine is large enofe for canoes or boards &.C.
considerable of common alder along the creeks and runs, we
proceeded on up the creek passed through verry bad thickets
where we were oblidged to cut a road for our horses to pass
through, handsom tall strait pine and balsom fer and a little
cotton [wood] intermixed, crossed Several branches. Some
places muddy, we call this place dismal Swamp. Several beaver
dams in it &C. Some places Steep along the edge of the moun-
tains and verry rough and rockey. the mountains make close on
each side of the creek and [are] high covred with pine, this is a
verry lonesome place. some of our weak horses fell backward
climeing the steep rockey hills, and mountains, we had consid-
erable of trouble this day carr[y]ing several of the horses loads
up the steep rockey mon* one of the horses gave out so that he
could not carry his load, we went 13 miles this day and Camped
1 “nearly as steep as the roof of a house.” Whitehouse.
2 Today’s route led overland from the camp on Boyle’s Creek to a stream
which they called Fish Creek, but which is now known as North Fork of Salmon
River. The camp was about ten miles above the mouth of Fish Creek.
280 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS [Sept. 3
in a thicket near the creek.1 it was about six miles through the
thicket which we call the dismal Swamp, nothing killed this day
by the hunters only a fiew fessents [pheasants], no game of any
kind to be seen in these mountains.