Prose Map · revealed ground
What the story has earned so far.
Encountered so far
People
Held documentary body
What carries this ground?
Source, representation, and Workshop derivative remain separate. This public descent stops at the public derivative and controlled source-object pointer; it does not invent an unreleased exact carrier.Ground jacket · earned depth
Carried folio · browser-local prototype
What did you keep?
The light catches a report.
On 29 January 1831, J. L. Dawson wrote from Cantonment Gibson. His report carries travel with the Choctaw and Chickasaw western exploring delegations.
The original manuscript has not yet been recovered. We are following the report through its newspaper and later printed representations.
Two men are sent back toward the ford.
You are awake inside the guarded camp. The dark beyond it is not filled in for you.
The account says a small guard was posted around the camp after the alarm.
Two unnamed men were sent back to watch the ford of the river on the back trail.
The report does not say that they reached the ford, and it gives no account of their return.
Ten · night camp
Morning finds the party unattacked.
You are standing in the camp at first light. Nothing in the account says the camp was attacked.
The night has passed. The small guard is no longer the thing the report is watching.
The two men, the ford, and the back trail remain outside the account that follows.
Dawson turns southeast from here. The source moves on without bringing those men back into view.
Ten · morning camp
They continue southeast about fifteen miles.
You are moving with the account toward the next camp. The traveled line itself is not preserved.
The account carries the party .
That gives direction and approximate distance, but not a road, bearing, or reconstructed path.
At the end of this source-stated leg, the party encamps on .
Ten · southeast reach
On this creek, they find Mayes and Criner.
You are at the creek with Mayes and Criner in view. The exact point on the creek is not given.
The account says the party found and here.
He says the two men ; that residence is not made into this encounter place.
Here, on this creek, they were .
Ten · Blue Water
They had caught but a dozen.
You are still beside the same creek with Mayes and Criner. The account has not moved to their residence.
The account says they had caught but a dozen beaver.
He does not divide the catch between the two men or give a separate place for it.
The weather, he says, was too cold to promise much further success.
Ten · Blue Water
Mayes is employed as a guide.
You are still at Blue Water. The story changes role before it changes ground.
The account says Cols. Gaines and Reynolds induced Mayes and Criner to accompany the delegation as far as Kiamiche.
He says Mr. Mayes was employed as a guide.
The source does not make Criner a guide, give the terms of Mayes's employment, or prove arrival at Kiamiche in this sentence.
Ten · Blue Water
The report shifts from encounter to prospect.
You are carried to a relative position near the mouth of Blue Water. No exact point is supplied.
The account says the party was within a short distance of the mouth of Blue Water.
He says he wanted to see the mouths of Blue Water and the Washita to report on their local advantages for a possible garrison.
Intent to inspect is not proof that either mouth was reached, surveyed, selected, or built upon.
Ten · near Blue Water mouth
The account turns from place to forecast.
The ground is now regional rather than point-like. The account is making a judgment, not locating a settlement.
The account says there is ample room for the whole nation in the portion east of Blue Water.
He predicts that this portion will fill with settlements first, citing winter range and comparative exposure.
This is the account's forecast. It is not proof that settlement had already occurred or a mapped boundary east of Blue Water.
Ten · east of Blue Water