Stuart with horses.

St. Joe consists of a few houses in the usual Red R. style, & a small building used as a R. Catholic church. Forded the river with wagons & not without difficulty, the water coming up to the floors of the wagons, & the current very strong. Bottom fortunately hard. Several very steep & bad hills to ascend giving much trouble & losing time. View from the Mt over the plain very extensive, much of country along base of mountain wooded with small growth of oaks, poplars &C. Stopped about 2 hours for lunch & to rest horses, about half a mile from the last steep ascent of the mountain. On gaining the top the country comes to resemble much that already described on the line trail. Groves of poplar, willow &c, thickets of plum, cherry, choke-cherry, Amelanchier, hazel &C. Between these open grassy glades. Passed place where water supposed to be, came to branching of U.S. Boundary trail from the old road from St Joe to Ft. Totten. Left the latter, & came on over a mile & a half to a COU16[sic] which is one of the numerous branches ramifying from Pembina R. valley. Plenty water.

The vegetation on Pembina is slightly, but distinctly, in advance of that on the Red R. plain. Not in solitary instances but by comparison of number of plants. Red R. probably serves as a trough for the natural flow Southward of cold winds from the North?

Near St. Joe banks of Pembina R appear to be all composed of yellowish drift, though did not go close to examine more carefully. Pebbles in river valley derived from drift & very varied. Laurentian & all sorts of metamorphic rocks, also limestone (Garry?). Portions of nodules from the Cret. clays (Gypsums). Found a fragment of silicified wood exactly resembling that so abundant on the other side of Coteau.

The terrace plateau very well marked on the Mt. where ascent made, but do not seem to tally very closely with the measurements made on the line trail.

Barom. 9 A.M. Pembina R. crossing water level = 29.03.

Temp. of river 62 F.

Edge of plateau corresponding to 2nd Terrace? 10.15 AM.= 28.77.

Somewhat further west, same plateau = 28.72.

This plateau must be at least two miles wide & is open & prairie-like.