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With commission in hand, outfitting a crew was fairly straightforward. St. Louis was a bustling frontier town in 1795 and there was no shortage of engagés, French-speaking river men, willing to take on the backbreaking task of rowing upriver. Finding a second in command, a trustworthy sidekick with the skills to lead men into the wilderness was another matter.

For this Mackay turned to a recent acquaintance, John Evans, a Welshman with a peculiar obsession. Evans was one of a group of Welsh nationalists who fervently believed that one of their own, a certain Prince Madog ab Owen Gwynedd, had discovered the New World in 1170. According to legend, Prince Madog's numerous descendants were thriving in the region of the "far Missouri."

"Madog discovered the New World, returned to Wales and came back with several shiploads of settlers," Wood says with a sigh. "There is even a monument on the coast of Alabama showing where he landed. And, of course he went up the Mississippi River and built all those wonderful mounds at Cahokia, before going on up the Missouri to become the Mandans. The story just gets more and more bizarre the longer you talk about it."

Late in the summer of 1795, Mackay, Evans and their crew set off from St. Charles in four merchandise-laden boats. The plan was to travel by river as far north as the Mandan villages, then cross the Northern Rockies to find a river that might carry them to the Pacific. Along the way they would, like Lewis and Clark, collect information on flora, fauna and geography. Unlike the later explorers, they were also expected to build stockades, promote trade with native peoples, and expel British merchants.

The journey itself, as detailed in Woods' account, was one of small triumphs and greater frustrations. After months of working their way slowly up river, the expedition built the rough-hewn Fort Charles (now lost) near the site of present-day Sioux City. Here they split into two parties. Evans was to look for Madog's progeny in the Mandan Villages, with orders to carry on to the Pacific. Mackay would travel due west to explore much of what is today the state of Nebraska. Some two years later, separated by a period of several months, both groups returned to St. Louis.