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The March West NWMP Camp
1879
North-West Territories

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If the troopers were in bad shape, the horses were far worse. The Toronto animals refused to eat hay cut from pairie grass and oats brought from Fort Dufferin were soon in short supply.

The force started to lose animals as they lay down, refused to move on and had to be left behind. On July 22, the force made its second crossing of the Souris River at a difficult point with a steep bank. The effort of hauling horses and supplies across by rope and brute force exausted everyone, and two days later French called for a rest at Roche Percee, southeast of modern Estevan, Saskatchewan.

It was time for a change of plan.