Its purpose was to inform fellow Indians that a party of 14 white men and 2 Indians had encamped at the place. The slant of the Birch-bark pole showed the direction of the proposed march, and three notches in the wood of the pole showed that it was to be a three-day expedition.

The meanings of the other symbols are as follows:

The eight men in the upper row, with hats on, and with muskets beside them, represent the eight white soldiers

Number 1 (end of second row) represents the officer in command, with a sword

Number 2, with a book, the secretary

Number 3, with a hammer, the geologist

Numbers 4, 5 and 6 are attendants, one of these being the interpreter

Numbers 7 and 8 represent the two Indian guides, who are distinguished as Indians by being without hats

Number 11 represents a prairie-hen

Number 12 represents a tortoise, which had been eaten by the party

Numbers 13, 14, 15, mean that there were three separate camp fires.