The Route She Walked Before 1814

The winter survival journey of 1814 was not Marie’s first experience of extreme conditions.

The Hunt overland expedition of 1811-1812 had prepared her, in ways both deliberate and inadvertent, for exactly the kind of challenge she faced.

The Hunt expedition’s route through what is now South Dakota, Wyoming, and Idaho was no summer picnic even in the best conditions.

The party crossed the Bighorn Basin, navigated through the complex terrain of the Wyoming mountains, descended to the Snake River plain, and attempted the canyon country of the Snake River with results that left multiple men dead.

Through all of this, Marie walked — literally walked, for much of the journey, until additional horses could be obtained — with two small children.