La Harpe followed the Red River upstream, probably to the vicinity of present-day Idabel, Oklahoma. He then turned north to cross the rugged east–west ridges of the Ouachita Mountains which rise more than above the intervening valleys. While in the mountains, La Harpe encountered an Osage war party and narrowly avoided a fight. He also found evidence that a "Cancey" (Apache) war party was in the area. On September 3, after 23 days of traveling, La Harpe and his party reached a large settlement. Opinions differ as to its location, but after a dig at the Lasley Vore Site in 1988, University of Tulsa anthropologist George H. Odell claimed that archaeological evidence points to it being located about 13 miles (21 km) south of Tulsa, Oklahoma near the western bank of the Arkansas River.