History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark Part 21

As we approached the village, most of the women, though apprised of our being expected, fled with their children into the neighbouring woods.

The men, however, received us without any apprehension, and gave us a plentiful supply of provisions. The plains were now crowded with Indians, who came to see the persons of the whites and the strange things they brought with them: but as our guide was perfectly a stranger to their language we could converse by signs only. Our inquiries were chiefly directed to the situation of the country, the courses of the rivers, and the Indian villages, of all which we received information from several of the Indians, and as their accounts varied but little from each other, we were induced to place confidence in them. Among others, the Twisted-hair drew a chart of the river on a white elk skin.

According to this, the Kooskooskee forks a few miles from this place; two days towards the south is another and larger fork on which the Shoshonee or Snake Indians fish: five days' journey further is a large river from the northwest into which Clarke's river empties itself: from the mouth of that river to the falls is five days' journey further: on all the forks as well as on the main river great numbers of Indians reside, and at the falls are establishments of whites. This was the story of the Twisted-hair.

Monday 23. The chiefs and warriors were all a.s.sembled this morning, and we explained to them where we came from, the objects of our visiting them, and our pacific intentions towards all the Indians. This being conveyed by signs, might not have been perfectly comprehended, but appeared to give perfect satisfaction. We now gave a medal to two of the chiefs, a s.h.i.+rt in addition to the medal already received by the Twisted-hair, and delivered a flag and a handkerchief for the grand chief on his return. To these were added a knife, a handkerchief and a small piece of tobacco for each chief. The inhabitants did not give us any provisions gratuitously. We therefore purchased a quant.i.ty of fish, berries (chiefly red haws) and roots; and in the afternoon went on to the second village. The Twisted-hair introduced us into his own tent, which consisted however of nothing more than pine bushes and bark, and gave us some dried salmon boiled. We continued our purchases, and obtained as much provision as our horses could carry in their present weak condition as far as the river. The men exchanged a few old canisters for dressed elk skins, of which they made s.h.i.+rts: great crowds of the natives are round us all night, but we have not yet missed any thing except a knife and a few other articles stolen yesterday from a shot pouch. At dark we had a hard wind from the southwest accompanied with rain which lasted half an hour, but in the morning,

Tuesday 24, the weather was fair. We sent back Colter in search of the horses lost in the mountains, and having collected the rest set out at ten o'clock along the same route already pa.s.sed by captain Clarke towards the river. All round the village the women are busily employed in gathering and dressing the pasheco root, of which large quant.i.ties are heaped up in piles over the plain. We now felt severely the consequence of eating heartily after our late privations: captain Lewis and two of the men were taken very ill last evening, and to-day he could scarcely sit on his horse, while others were obliged to be put on horseback, and some from extreme weakness and pain, were forced to lie down along side of the road for some time. At sunset we reached the island where the hunters had been left on the 22d. They had been unsuccessful, having killed only two deer since that time, and two of them are very sick. A little below this island is a larger one on which we encamped, and administered Rush's pills to the sick.

Wednesday 25. The weather was very hot, and oppressive to the party, most of whom are now complaining of sickness. Our situation indeed, rendered it necessary to husband our remaining strength, and it was determined to proceed down the river in canoes. Captain Clarke therefore set out with the Twisted-hair and two young men, in quest of timber for canoes. As he went down the river he crossed at the distance of a mile a creek from the right, which from the rocks that obstructed its pa.s.sage, he called Rockdam river. The hills along the river are high and steep: the low grounds are narrow, and the navigation of the river embarra.s.sed by two rapids. At the distance of three miles further he reached two nearly equal forks of the river, one of which flowed in from the north.

Here he rested for an hour, and cooked a few salmon which one of the Indians caught with a gig. Here too, he was joined by two canoes of Indians from below: they were long, steady, and loaded with the furniture and provisions of two families. He now crossed the south fork, and returned to the camp on the south side, through a narrow pine bottom the greater part of the way, in which was found much fine timber for canoes. One of the Indian boats with two men, set out at the same time, and such was their dexterity in managing the pole, that they reached camp within fifteen minutes after him, although they had to drag the canoe over three rapids. He found captain Lewis, and several of the men still very sick; and distributed to such as were in need of it, salts and tartar emetic.

Thursday 26. Having resolved to go down to some spot calculated for building canoes, we set out early this morning and proceeded five miles, and encamped on low ground on the south, opposite the forks of the river. But so weak were the men that several were taken sick in coming down; the weather being oppressively hot. Two chiefs and their families followed us, and encamped with a great number of horses near us: and soon after our arrival we were joined by two Indians, who came down the north fork on a raft. We purchased some fresh salmon, and having distributed axes, and portioned off the labour of the party, began,

Friday 27, at an early hour, the preparations for making five canoes.

But few of the men, however, were able to work, and of these several were soon taken ill, as the day proved very hot. The hunters too, returned without any game, and seriously indisposed, so that nearly the whole party was now ill. We procured some fresh salmon; and Colter, who now returned with one of the horses, brought half a deer, which was very nouris.h.i.+ng to the invalids: several Indians from a camp below, came up to see us.

Sat.u.r.day 28. The men continue ill, though some of those first attacked are recovering. Their general complaint is a heaviness at the stomach, and a lax, which is rendered more painful by the heat of the weather, and the diet of fish and roots, to which they are confined, as no game is to be procured. A number of Indians collect about us in the course of the day to gaze at the strange appearance of every thing belonging to us.

Sunday 29. The morning was cool, the wind from the southwest; but in the afternoon the heat returned. The men continue ill; but all those who are able to work are occupied at the canoes. The spirits of the party were much recruited by three deer brought in by the hunters; and the next day,

Monday 30th, the sick began to recruit their strength, the morning being fair and pleasant. The Indians pa.s.s in great numbers up and down the river, and we observe large quant.i.ties of small duck going down this morning.

Tuesday, October 1, 1805. The morning was cool, the wind easterly, but the latter part of the day was warm. We were visited by several Indians from the tribes below, and others from the main south fork. To two of the most distinguished men, we made presents of a ring and broach, and to five others a piece of riband, a little tobacco, and the fifth part of a neckcloth. We now dried our clothes and other articles, and selected some articles such as the Indians admire, in order to purchase some provisions, as we have nothing left except a little dried fish, which operates as a complete purgative.

Wednesday 2. The day is very warm. Two men were sent to the village with a quant.i.ty of these articles to purchase food. We are now reduced to roots, which produce violent pains in the stomach. Our work continued as usual, and many of the party are convalescent. The hunters returned in the afternoon with nothing but a small prairie-wolf, so that our provisions being exhausted, we killed one of the horses to eat, and provide soup for the sick.

Thursday 3. The fine cool morning and easterly wind had an agreeable effect upon the party, most of whom are now able to work. The Indians from below left us, and we were visited by others from different quarters.

Friday 4. Again we had a cool east wind from the mountains. The men were now much better, and captain Lewis himself so far recovered as to walk about a little. Three Indians arrived to-day from the Great river to the south. The two men also returned from the village with roots and fish, and as the flesh of the horse killed yesterday was exhausted, we were confined to that diet, although unwholesome as well as unpleasant. The afternoon was warm.

Sat.u.r.day 5. The wind easterly, and the weather cool. The canoes being nearly finished it became necessary to dispose of our horses. They were therefore collected to the number of thirty-eight, and being branded and marked were delivered to three Indians, the two brothers and the son of a chief, who promises to accompany us down the river. To each of those men we gave a knife and some small articles, and they agreed to take good care of the horses till our return. The hunters with all their diligence are unable to kill any thing, the hills being high and rugged, and the woods too dry to hunt deer, which is the only game in the country. We therefore continue to eat dried fish and roots, which are purchased from the squaws, by means of small presents, but chiefly white beads, of which they are extravagantly fond. Some of these roots seem to possess very active properties, for after supping on them this evening, we were swelled to such a degree as to be scarcely able to breathe for several hours. Towards night we lanched two canoes which proved to be very good.

Sunday 6. This morning is again cool, and the wind easterly. The general course of the winds seems to resemble that which we observed on the east side of the mountain. While on the head waters of the Missouri, we had every morning a cool wind from the west. At this place a cool breeze springs up during the latter part of the night, or near daybreak, and continues till seven or eight o'clock, when it subsides, and the latter part of the day is warm. Captain Lewis is not so well as he was, and captain Clarke was also taken ill. We had all our saddles buried in a cache near the river, about half a mile below, and deposited at the same time a canister of powder, and a bag of b.a.l.l.s. The time which could be spared from our labours on the canoes, was devoted to some astronomical observations. The lat.i.tude of our camp as deduced from the mean of two observations is 46 34' 56" 3"' north.

Monday 7. This morning all the canoes were put in the water and loaded, the oars fixed, and every preparation made for setting out but when we were all ready, the two chiefs who had promised to accompany us, were not to be found, and at the same time we missed a pipe tomahawk. We therefore proceeded without them. Below the forks this river is called the Kooskooskee, and is a clear rapid stream, with a number of shoals and difficult places. For some miles the hills are steep, the low grounds narrow, but then succeeds an open country with a few trees scattered along the river. At the distance of nine miles is a small creek on the left. We pa.s.sed in the course of the day ten rapids, in descending which, one of the canoes struck a rock, and sprung a leak: we however continued for nineteen miles, and encamped on the left side of the river, opposite to the mouth of a small run. Here the canoe was unloaded and repaired, and two lead canisters of powder deposited; several camps of Indians were on the sides of the river, but we had little intercourse with any of them.

Tuesday 8. We set out at nine o'clock. At eight and a half miles we pa.s.sed an island: four and a half miles lower a second island, opposite a small creek on the left side of the river. Five miles lower is another island on the left: a mile and a half below which is a fourth. At a short distance from this is a large creek from the right, to which we gave the name of Colter's creek, from Colter one of the men. We had left this creek about a mile and a half, and were pa.s.sing the last of fifteen rapids which we had been fortunate enough to escape, when one of the canoes struck, and a hole being made in her side, she immediately filled and sunk. The men, several of whom could not swim, clung to the boat till one of our canoes could be unloaded, and with the a.s.sistance of an Indian boat, they were all brought to sh.o.r.e. All the goods were so much wet, that we were obliged to halt for the night, and spread them out to dry. While all this was exhibited, it was necessary to place two sentinels over the merchandise, for we found that the Indians, though kind and disposed to give us every aid during our distress, could not resist the temptation of pilfering some of the small articles. We pa.s.sed during our route of twenty miles to-day, several encampments of Indians on the islands, and near the rapids, which places are chosen as most convenient for taking salmon. At one of these camps we found our two chiefs, who after promising to descend the river with us, had left us; they however willingly came on board after we had gone through the ceremony of smoking.

Wednesday, 9. The morning was as usual, cool; but as the weather both yesterday and to-day was cloudy, our merchandise dried but slowly. The boat, though much injured, was repaired by ten o'clock so as to be perfectly fit for service; but we were obliged to remain during the day till the articles were sufficiently dry to be reloaded: the interval we employed in purchasing fish for the voyage and conversing with the Indians. In the afternoon we were surprised at hearing that our old Shoshonee guide and his son had left us, and been seen running up the river several miles above. As he had never given any notice of his intention, nor had even received his pay for guiding us, we could not imagine the cause of his desertion, nor did he ever return to explain his conduct. We requested the chief to send a horseman after him to request that he would return and receive what we owed him. From this however he dissuaded us, and said very frankly, that his nation, the Chopunnish, would take from the old man any presents that he might have on pa.s.sing their camp.

The Indians came about our camp at night, and were very gay and good-humoured with the men. Among other exhibitions was that of a squaw who appeared to be crazy: she sang in a wild incoherent manner, and would offer to the spectators all the little articles she possessed, scarifying herself in a horrid manner if any one refused her present: she seemed to be an object of pity among the Indians, who suffered her to do as she pleased without interruption.

Thursday, 10. A fine morning. We loaded the canoes and set off at seven o'clock. At the distance of two and a half miles we had pa.s.sed three islands, the last of which is opposite to a small stream on the right.

Within the following three and a half miles is another island and a creek on the left, with wide low grounds, containing willow and cottonwood trees, on which were three tents of Indians. Two miles lower is the head of a large island, and six and a half miles further we halted at an encampment of eight lodges on the left, in order to view a rapid before us: we had already pa.s.sed eight, and some of them difficult; but this was worse than any of them, being a very hazardous ripple strewed with rocks: we here purchased roots and dined with the Indians. Among them was a man from the falls, who says that he saw white people at that place and is very desirous of going down with us; an offer which however we declined. Just above this camp we had pa.s.sed a tent, near which was an Indian bathing himself in a small pond or hole of water, warmed by throwing in hot stones. After finis.h.i.+ng our meal we descended the rapid with no injury, except to one of our boats which ran against a rock, but in the course of an hour was brought off with only a small split in her side. This ripple, from its appearance and difficulty, we named the Rugged rapid. We went on over five other rapids of a less dangerous kind, and at the distance of five miles reached a large fork of the river from the south; and after coming twenty miles, halted below the junction on the right side of the river: our arrival soon attracted the attention of the Indians, who flocked in all directions to see us. In the evening the Indian from the falls, whom we had seen at the Rugged rapid, joined us with his son in a small canoe, and insisted on accompanying us to the falls. Being again reduced to fish and roots we made an experiment to vary our food by purchasing*

a few dogs, and after having been accustomed to horse-flesh, felt no disrelish to this new dish. The Chopunnish have great numbers of dogs which they employ for domestic purposes, but never eat; and our using the flesh of that animal soon brought us into ridicule as dog-eaters.

The country at the junction of the two rivers is an open plain on all sides, broken towards the left by a distant ridge of highland, thinly covered with timber: this is the only body of timber which the country possesses; for at the forks there is not a tree to be seen, and during almost the whole descent of sixty miles down the Kooskooskee from its forks there are very few. This southern branch is in fact the main stream of Lewis's river on which we encamped when among the Shoshonees.

The Indians inform us that it is navigable for sixty miles; that not far from its mouth it receives a branch from the south; and a second and larger branch, two days' march up, and nearly parallel to the first Chopunnish villages, we met near the mountains. This branch is called p.a.w.nashte, and is the residence of a chief, who, according to their expression, has more horses than he can count. The river has many rapids, near which are situated many fis.h.i.+ng camps; there being ten establishments of this before reaching the first southern branch; one on that stream, five between that and the p.a.w.nashte; one on that river, and two above it; besides many other Indians who reside high up on the more distant waters of this river. All these Indians belong to the Chopunnish nation, and live in tents of an oblong form, covered with flat roofs.

At its mouth Lewis's river is about two hundred and fifty yards wide, and its water is of a greenish blue colour. The Kooskooskee, whose waters are clear as crystal, one hundred and fifty yards in width, and after the union the river enlarges to the s.p.a.ce of three hundred yards: at the point of the union is an Indian cabin, and in Lewis's river a small island.

The Chopunnish or Pierced-nose nation, who reside on the Kooskooskee and Lewis's rivers, are in person stout, portly, well-looking men: the women are small, with good features, and generally handsome, though the complexion of both s.e.xes is darker than that of the Tushepaws. In dress they resemble that nation, being fond of displaying their ornaments. The buffaloe or elk-skin robe decorated with beads, sea-sh.e.l.ls, chiefly mother-of-pearl, attached to an otter-skin collar and hung in the hair, which falls in front in two queues; feathers, paints of different kinds, princ.i.p.ally white, green, and light blue, all of which they find in their own country: these are the chief ornaments they use. In the winter they wear a short s.h.i.+rt of dressed skins, long painted leggings and moccasins, and a plait of twisted gra.s.s round the neck.

The dress of the women is more simple, consisting of a long s.h.i.+rt of argalia or ibex skin, reaching down to the ankles without a girdle: to this are tied little pieces of bra.s.s and sh.e.l.ls and other small articles; but the head is not at all ornamented. The dress of the female is indeed more modest, and more studiously so than any we have observed, though the other s.e.x is careless of the indelicacy of exposure.

The Chopunnish have very few amus.e.m.e.nts, for their life is painful and laborious; and all their exertions are necessary to earn even their precarious subsistence. During the summer and autumn they are busily occupied in fis.h.i.+ng for salmon, and collecting their winter store of roots. In the winter they hunt the deer on snow shoes over the plains, and towards spring cross the mountains to the Missouri for the purpose of trafficking for buffaloe robes. The inconveniences of that comfortless life are increased by frequent encounters with their enemies from the west, who drive them over the mountains with the loss of their horses, and sometimes the lives of many of the nation. Though originally the same people, their dialect varies very perceptibly from that of the Tushepaws: their treatment to us differed much from the kind and disinterested services of the Shoshonees: they are indeed selfish and avaricious; they part very reluctantly with every article of food or clothing; and while they expect a recompense for every service however small, do not concern themselves about reciprocating any presents we may give them.

They are generally healthy--the only disorders which we have had occasion to remark being of a scrophulous kind, and for these, as well as for the amus.e.m.e.nt of those who are in good health, hot and cold bathing is very commonly used.

The soil of these prairies is of a light yellow clay intermixed with small smooth gra.s.s: it is barren, and produces little more than a bearded gra.s.s about three inches high, and a p.r.i.c.kly pear, of which we now found three species: the first is of the broad-leafed kind, common to the Missouri. The second has the leaf of a globular form, and is also frequent on the upper part of the Missouri, particularly after it enters the Rocky mountains. The third is pecular to this country, and is much more inconvenient than the other two: it consists of small thick leaves of a circular form, which grow from the margin of each other as in the broad-leafed pear of the Missouri: these leaves are armed with a greater number of thorns, which are stronger, and appear to be barbed; and as the leaf itself is very slightly attached to the stem, as soon as one thorn touches the moccasin it adheres and brings with it the leaf, which is accompanied by a reenforecement of thorns.

END OF VOLUME 1.