This incident determined his career.
Whether it crystallized long-cherished fancies into sudden action, or whether it was of itself the initial cause of his resolve, is now mere matter of conjecture; probably the former.

The three friends, Gallatin, Badollet, and Serre seem to have amused their leisure in planning an ideal existence in some wilderness.

America offered a boundless field for the realization of such dreams, and the spice of adventure could be had for the seeking.

Here was the forest primeval in its original grandeur.

Here the Indian roamed undisputed master; not the tutored Huron of Voltaire's tale, but the savage of torch and tomahawk.