n 1818-1820 a scientific and military expedition under Major Long and Col. Henry Atkinson explored some of the new western territories of the United States. In June 1819 the scientific branch arrived in St. Louis and started up the Missouri. The following account, from a journal written by Edwin James, describes an encounter between the expedition and Isaac Van Bibber, of Loutre Lick, MO. This was the Isaac Van Bibber whose father had been killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant, and who was brought up in Daniel Boone’s family. In 1800 he moved to Missouri, and in 1815 settled at Loutre Lick, where the present village of Mineola, Montgomery Co., MO now stands.