On August 9th when the party left Pembina behind, their number had dwindled. Joseph Snelling, son of Colonel Snelling, who had gone with them thus far, returned by the same route with three soldiers. J. C. Beltrami, who had been allowed to cast his lot with theirs, and who had been equipped and supplied by the Indian agent, who had presented him with the "noble steed 'Cadmus'",[450] also left them. In company with two Chippewas and a _bois-brule_ of Red River, he set out for the southeast with the purpose of there finding the source of the Mississippi. Upon a small lake, which he named Lake Julia, he conferred the honor of being the head of the great river, while it seemed to him that the "shades of Marco Polo, of Columbus, of Americus Vespucius, of the Cabots, of Verazani, of the Zenos, and various others, appeared present, and joyfully assisting at this high and solemn ceremony".[451] After a journey of great suffering he was welcomed at Fort Snelling--wearing a hat made of the bark of a tree, and clothes of skins.[452] Not until late in the fall did the connection of Fort Snelling with this expedition cease, when the soldiers who had accompanied the party as far as Sault Ste. Marie returned to their post by the Fox-Wisconsin route after a journey rendered exceedingly disagreeable by the cold.[453] In the summer of 1835 George Catlin and his wife spent several months at Fort Snelling. Mr. Catlin was an artist who made a specialty of Indian scenes, and his time was occupied in painting scenes of Indian life and portraits of Indian chiefs. His studio was a room in the officers' quarters, and his models were the natives who lingered about the agency. Mr. Catlin was extremely desirous of painting some pictures of Indian dances and ball-plays. In order to persuade the Indians to do their part, Lawrence Taliaferro told them on July 3rd that if they would come the next day and entertain the visitors, the great gun at the fort would be fired twenty-one times for their amusement. As this was the salute for the national holiday, he was safe in making the prophecy. Accordingly, on the fourth of July the prairie near the fort, for two hours, rang with the excited shouts of the ball-players; and when this pastime was finished the "beggar's-dance", the "buffalo-dance", the "bear-dance", the "eagle-dance", and the "dance-of-the-braves" furnished entertainment for three hours more.[454]