VOYAGE FROM FORT UNION TO MUSCLESHELL RIVER, FROM THE 6TH TO THE 28TH
OF JULY
Difficult Navigation--Remarkable Formation of the Eminences--La
Rivière aux Trembles--Prairie à la Corne du Cerf--Successful
Buffalo Chase--Wreck of the Beaver Keel-boat--The rude
Manners of the American Hunters--Beaver Dens--Prairies of
the Upper Missouri--Successful Bear Chase--Milk River--The
Orignal--Grand Détour--Big-Dry River--White Mountain
Castles--Difficulties of the Naturalist--Muscleshell River.
On the 6th of July, at seven in the morning, after we had taken leave
of the inmates of the fort, our men began to tow the Flora. The
American flag was hoisted on the fort, and several guns were fired,
on both sides, as a farewell salute. The weather was warm and fine,
so that the men who towed the vessel suffered from the heat, and
frequently lay down on the muddy bank of the river to drink. Beyond the
wood, where the dead of the Assiniboins were deposited in the trees, a
bend of the river to the north made us lose sight of the fort, and Mr.
Mc Kenzie, who had accompanied us so far, wished us a happy voyage,
and rode back; on which the cannon of our vessel again fired a salute.
We afterwards rowed in the boat to the south bank, where we landed
several of our people to hunt, and rambled through the dense forest and
the prairie. The ground, which was everywhere seen between the high
grass, was an indurated whitish clay, on which the plants, of which
we collected several, grew only in single spots. We saw no game, it
being too near the fort; but we observed traces of stags and buffaloes,
and numbers of their bones. The yellow-breasted _Icteria viridis_ was
singing among the thickets, especially in the rose bushes. We ascended
the high, bare, clay hills, from the summit of which we saw our vessel
approaching. The prospect was very fine; we overlooked the windings
of the river, the verdant moors, the forests, and the thickets, the
prairies here and there extending beyond them, and the lofty fantastic
chain of clay hills, of a whitish-grey colour, with some darker strata,
or horizontal stripes, and regular perpendicular {208} clefts or
ravines. The twenty-six men who towed our boat had been often obliged
to put off the greater part of their clothes, to wade through the
water, and the mud of the soft sand banks. The trunk of a tree, lying
on a bank, broke the door of our cabin, and we were frequently obliged
to row. For this purpose there were on the deck, two large and long
oars, which were worked by three or five men, who walked backwards and
forwards. At a large pile of drift-wood on the bank, an immense tree
swept our deck, as the people who were towing did not hear us call to
them, and broke the stays, by which I received a severe blow, which
might have proved dangerous. Often, too, we came so near the bank,
that the earth covered the windows, and made our cabins quite dark.
We had our dinner at four o'clock, consisting of salt pork, pemmican,
hard ship's biscuit, and coffee. In the evening, when the sun was
setting, and illumined the chain of hills with wonderful splendour, our
hunters returned with a young deer. On this day Mr. Mitchell divided
the crew of the vessel into watches, so that two men might always
watch, who were relieved three times in the night. Powder and ball were
distributed among the men, but they were forbidden, under penalty of
five dollars, to fire, which might easily have attracted Indian war
parties. On the following morning (July 7), the weather was agreeable
and the sky clear; we saw many swans, but could not get at them. We
had before observed these beautiful birds and wild geese on the sandy
beach. The young branches of the thickets had suffered by the frost,
and the river had fallen four inches; to-day, however, the heat was so
intense that we could scarcely bear it on deck. We observed that the
stems of the poplars, to the height of five feet, or fifteen feet above
the present level of the river, had the bark rubbed off by the ice. In
this part there appeared, before the hills, cones of a most singular
shape, burnt to a brick red; and the summits of the higher hills were
often strangely formed in various angles. In the whitish strata of
clay-slate between the clay are here and there apertures, arched above
in the form of the gates or windows of knights' castles. The men who
towed our boat killed, in the prairie, a large rattlesnake, the rattle
of which we had heard on board the vessel. The hunters had seen some
elks and deer; and Dechamp brought one of the latter on board. The
towers had much labour at this part of our voyage, the current of the
river being very strong; they were sometimes obliged to climb, in a
long row, up the hills, where we saw them suspended, like chamois, in
dangerous positions. Mr. Bodmer sketched some of these hills on the
left bank.[14] In other places, the _engagés_ who were towing were
obliged to make a way on the bank by cutting down large poplars and
thick bushes, which often cost much time and trouble. Here they often
met with rattlesnakes, of which they killed several. Mr. Bodmer came
so near one of these snakes, that he had nearly been bitten by it;
he, however, killed it by a blow, and brought it on board. On this
occasion, Mr. Mitchell told us that he had once seen an Indian boy die
in an hour and a half after having been bitten by one of these snakes.
{209} According to Ross Cox,[15] the Canadians eat the rattlesnake;
but I can affirm that we never saw an instance of it; on the contrary,
they always manifested the greatest antipathy to those animals. This
traveller likewise says that the serpent often bites itself, but I
cannot believe this, as I never succeeded in any attempt to make him do
so.
The next day, the 8th, we had again many difficulties. The river was
shallow in places, and our men were obliged to get into the water to
push our vessel on. In order to convey them from the boat to the land,
there were no means but by laying a board, which had to be placed in a
slanting position, so that it was no easy matter to climb up. On the
left bank they were often prevented from proceeding, because the ground
was so loose that it gave way under their feet. In this manner three
Assiniboins had been killed, who sat down below the bank, when the sand
fell, and buried them. The forest through which our men passed, had,
in these parts, a very thick underwood of roses and buffalo-berries,
and there were many very large frogs in it. At a place where the chain
of hills recedes behind woods and thickets from the Missouri, we came
to the mouth of a stream, with a soft bottom, which is called, by the
Canadians, La Rivière aux Trembles, and, by Lewis and Clarke, Martha's
River.[16] Of all the hunters whom we had landed at this place, Papin
alone brought a very fat deer; but it cost much trouble to take our
hunters on board again, for the _engagés_ who went with the boat for
that purpose, fell up to the waist in mud, after taking off their
clothes. They were forced partly to swim, partly to wade, in order to
reach the land. A little further up, the labour of the men towing the
vessel was still greater; for, on the other side of a sand bank, the
river was covered with snags, the intervals between which were hidden
by foam and small twigs. The men, in a long row, had to step or jump
from one of these snags to another, the sand being too soft to bear
their weight; but they frequently missed the snags, and fell between
them, up to their arms, into the river, so that many of them, who had
never before done such work, trembled all over, and returned to the
vessel. When they had got over these difficulties, they reached the
prairie, beyond which, at the distance of from 150 to 200 paces from
the bank of the river, the most singular pyramids rose, like towers.
Our hunters had killed an elk, a variable hare,[17] and a large
rattlesnake. The willow thickets on the bank, over which the goatsucker
was hovering, and from the edge of which a large wolf stood looking
at us, were full of mosquitoes, which, happily for us, were kept at
a distance from the vessel by a slight wind, when we took up our
quarters for the night on shore. If we shot a goatsucker, we found in
his capacious jaws a ball of mosquitoes, which quite filled it, which
are gradually collected and swallowed from time to time; so that the
name, _mangeur des maringouins_, given to this bird by the Canadians,
is very appropriate. During the night, however, those troublesome
insects had found their way into our cabin, and sadly tormented us on
the 9th, in the morning, for which reason we were very glad to proceed
on our voyage, which, {210} however, began with new difficulties. Two
deer swam through the river near us, and many shots were fired at them
in vain, as well as at some buffaloes; yet our deck was quite hung
round with game, especially portions of the large elks. Our men broke
the large bones of these animals, and used the marrow for greasing
the locks of their guns. The skins of such animals, killed on these
voyages, belong to the Company, and are used to make shoes for their
servants.
About twelve pair of Indian shoes are made of one large elk's skin,
the making of which costs a dollar; the skin of a Virginian deer will
produce only five or six pair.
About ten in the morning a violent storm arose, accompanied with rain;
the thermometer was at 71°, and the mosquitoes were very troublesome.
On the bank we saw a long yellow clay hill, in the shape of a fortress,
and before it smaller hills, with isolated cones, partly consisting of
purple clay.[18] Near these singular hills our hunters had killed a
couple of deer, and brought with them the horns of a large elk, with
seven antlers. We lay to for the evening at the wooded bank, where
numerous beautiful shrubs were partly in flower. Early on the morning
of the 10th, the hunters landed, and soon returned with the information
that they had killed three buffaloes and a bear. As the distance was
too great to bring the latter to the vessel, they had only cut off
his claws; but some men were despatched to fetch the buffaloes. We
traversed the forest into the open prairie, where the animals lay, at
the distance of full half a league. In the forest we, for the first
time, killed the magpie of this country (_Pica Hudsonica_, Bonn),
which, in appearance, much resembles that of Europe; but differs
considerably in its note and manners. Its nest was in a thick thorn
bush, seven feet from the ground, and had two young birds in it. I have
never seen these birds with more than two young ones; and the old birds
are very shy in summer, and it is very difficult to surprise them.
Not far from the magpie we found a couple of young owls, fully grown,
sitting close to each other on a branch, while the note of the old
bird was heard in the high trees in the vicinity. In the thick bushes
we heard the note of the cheerful and agile _Icteria viridis_. The
bushes of dogwood, symphoria, and roses, were so full of mosquitoes,
that when we had discharged our pieces, it was difficult to reload
them. The heat was great, and not a breath of air was stirring to
relieve us from those cruel bloodsuckers. In the neighbouring prairie
we found the cactus plant, which we have before mentioned, covered with
the most beautiful flowers, which attracted vast numbers of insects.
About twelve o'clock the men returned with the buffaloes, and we
went on board with them. They had seen several buffaloes, but could
bring away the flesh of only two of those that had been killed. After
leaving this place, the bank was covered with low bushes, so that we
were in no danger from the falling of high trees; but large portions
of the steep bank itself frequently fell down, and dashed the water
even into our cabin. Messrs. Bodmer and Mitchell made an excursion
into the wood, where they saw many wild pigeons, numerous traces of
bears, and the corpse of an Assiniboin deposited in a tree. There was
an undergrowth of black currants, in search of which our people always
{211} went, whenever they had a moment to spare. Towards evening, when
we lay to near the prairie of the north bank, a violent storm seemed to
threaten the safety of the vessel, and it was therefore made as fast
as possible, but it passed over, the clouds dispersed, and our fears
were dispelled. At half past nine in the evening we saw a faint aurora
borealis, the rays of which shot up into the sky; the temperature of
the air was pleasant, but the sky was not free from clouds, which
diminished the brightness of the meteor.
On the morning of the 11th of July, Mr. Bodmer took sketches of the
singular chain of hills, near which our people experienced great
difficulties from sinking in the mud, and were often obliged to swim;
twenty-nine of them were employed at the towing-rope, till a very
violent storm, with torrents of rain, compelled us to take shelter
on the bank, under cover of a tall poplar wood. The rain penetrated
through the deck into our cabin, and wetted our baggage; luckily it
was of short duration. We had now passed a place called L'Isle au Coupè
(the cut-off), but the Missouri had here broken through at one of its
large bends, and had formed a low island opposite to a marshy tongue of
land; the channel follows the main breach, and beyond this the river is
very broad: at this time it was high and full. _Helianthus petiolaris_,
in full size and beauty, as well as the two species of willows (_Salix
longijolia_ and _lucida_) already mentioned, grew on the banks of the
river; they are exposed to constant destruction; the river tears them
away in large masses, and throws them into its rapid waves; but the
ever-acting energy of nature is not to be restrained, and they soon
appear again on the new alluvial soil, though, in general, only young,
slender willows. We fired in vain at a couple of swans on a small
stream called Porcupine River,[19] the mouth of which is on the north
side, and an elk, killed by Dechamp,[20] detained us some time to take
the flesh on board. We then reached Two Thousand Miles River, so called
by Lewis and Clarke, which joins the Missouri on the north side, from
which, to the junction of the Missouri with the Mississippi, it is said
to be 2,000 miles.[21] At this place the forest joined an extensive
prairie, covered with bushes of artemisia, where we found, on the
ground, large cast-off elks' horns. Many isolated trees were quite dry,
and of a silver-grey colour, doubtless through a prairie fire; in one
of them we heard the chirping of the young of a pair of sparrow-hawks,
which are very common here; the old birds flew anxiously about. Here,
too, were numbers of the great fly-catcher (Muscicapa tyrannus). Elks
and deer had traversed the prairie in all directions, and trodden many
paths to the river. The prairie extended, without interruption, as
far as the eye could reach; it is called Prairie à la Corne de Cerf,
because the wandering Indians have here erected a pyramid of elks'
horns. As we perceived it from the river, we went to it, accompanied by
Dechamp and Sancier.
About 800 paces from the river, the hunting or war parties of the
Blackfoot Indians have gradually piled up a quantity of elks' horns
till they have formed a pyramid sixteen or eighteen feet high, and
twelve or fifteen feet in diameter. Every Indian who passes by makes a
point of {212} contributing his part, which is not difficult, because
such horns are everywhere scattered about; and often the strength of
the hunting party is marked, with red strokes, on the horns they have
added to the heap. All these horns, of which there are certainly more
than 1,000, are piled up, confusedly mixed together, and so wedged in,
that we found some trouble in extricating, from the pyramid, a large
one, with fourteen antlers, which we brought away with us. The horns
are partly separated from the head of the animal with the skull, and
partly single horns. Some buffaloes' horns were mixed with them. The
purpose of this practice is said to be a medicine, or charm, by which
they expect to be successful in hunting. As the drawing of this pyramid
was begun, we were called away by signals from the vessel.[22]
A violent storm, which came up in the evening, was succeeded on
the next day (the 12th of July) by a very high wind, which, as we
attempted to proceed, twice broke the towing-rope, and we got into two
successive whirlpools (_remoux_), twice turned the vessel round, and
carried it with violence against the bank, so that the water came into
the cabin, and the deck was covered with earth. As the wind did not
abate, we lay to at the upper part of the Prairie à la Corne de Cerf,
and immediately dispersed in quest of game. The prairie was the same
as yesterday, and the wind blew dust and sand into the air, and even
into the closest chests in our vessel. We met with various species of
birds, among which was a black and white finch, which appeared to me
to be a new species, and in its mode of life greatly resembles the
rice bird. Among the wormwood bushes we roused several variable hares,
and saw the yellow-headed blackbird, many sparrow-hawks, and a large
rattlesnake, which escaped into a hole underground. Elks' horns were
everywhere scattered about, and it would have been easy to make of them
a second pyramid like the one already mentioned. Several interesting
plants were gathered, among which were the _Asclepias speciosa_, with
large fragrant flowers, and a new species of _lactuca_ or _prenanthes_.
Just at the place where our vessel lay, were four old Indian huts, of
some war or hunting party, composed of trunks and boughs of trees piled
together in a square, in which some of our people made a fire to cook
their meat. Scarcely 100 paces above these huts, was the Indian Fort
Creek of Lewis and Clarke--a stream with a deep bed, in which there was
now but very little water. The wind, which was so violent at noon,
abated towards the evening, and allowed us to proceed a little further
up the river, till we lay to for the night. The air was very cool
to-day, and made a striking contrast to the heat of yesterday; however,
we comforted ourselves that we were not tormented by the mosquitoes. On
the following morning, the 13th, it was just the same, and we were soon
obliged to stop by the rising of the wind. We had seen a large bear,
and accordingly took advantage of our rest to send our five hunters
in pursuit of it. They did not, however, succeed in their object,
but brought back, in place of it, some other game. The wood here was
so thickly matted with willows, roses, dog-berry, and many burrs and
other troublesome plants, and likewise so full of dry broken wood and
rubbish, lying on the ground, that it was excessively difficult {213}
to penetrate. I followed, alternately, the paths trodden by buffaloes,
elks, bears, and deer, and at length got into such an intricate
thicket, that it was not till after many hours of painful and fatiguing
exertion, that I was so fortunate as to find our vessel; but all my
clothes were completely torn to rags. On the inclined trunk of a tree,
I saw an Assiniboin wrapped in skin; the tree itself was painted red;
and on one of the boughs hung the saddle and stirrups of the deceased.
Though the weather had improved, we made but little progress this
evening, because the river was too shallow, and we were not able
to follow the south bank till the following morning (the 14th).
Hereabouts, a chest and a cask were found, which belonged to the Beaver
keel-boat, wrecked there in the preceding year, and was likewise under
the command of Mr. Mitchell. As we had to contend with the soft sand
banks in the river, and could not proceed without great effort, the
vessel was put back, and brought into another channel, where we soon
took in fresh game, for our hunters succeeded in killing five elks, of
which, however, they could only bring away a part. Herds of buffaloes
were in the vicinity, and several of these colossal animals crossed
the Missouri in our sight. Dechamp, Papin, and Dreidoppel overtook
these swimming animals in a boat, while four or five of our hunters
got ashore before them, and two of these wild oxen were killed; a
third escaped severely wounded, but one of those that were killed sank
so deep into the mud of the river that no part of his flesh could be
obtained. A white wolf appeared immediately after, and very composedly
laid himself down on the bank, doubtless waiting our departure to
commence his delicious repast. This part of the country was low and
flat; wood, willow thickets, and prairie alternated along the bank.
We here saw, for the first time, a beautiful plant, which is frequent
from hence further up the river, the _Rudbeckia columnaris_ (Pursh),
the petals of which are half orange-colour and half brown. We lay to,
for the night, near a wood on the right bank, when our people bathed,
the evening being very fine and warm. The wood was lofty, shady, and
beautiful; we looked into high, dark arcades, where the whitish trunks
shone in the twilight; in front of it lay an old Indian hut; the
night-swallow hovered high in the air, and numerous bats flitted across
the surface of the water. The mosquitoes were not so troublesome;
and at ten in the evening there was an aurora borealis, consisting
of two columns of pale light, which rose high in the air, sometimes
lengthening, and then again contracting. We never heard any noise
accompanying these meteors.
This night and the following morning (the 15th) were very sultry;
at eight o'clock, 75° Fahrenheit. Papin had shot a deer the evening
before, but did not kill it; which was doubtless the cause of the
loud howling of the wolves which we heard during the night; for these
creatures make an incessant howling when they have found such a prize,
and contend for the booty, in which cases the weaker and the young
come off the worst. The ground of this forest, and of the adjoining
prairie, was a heated, very hard, dry clay, and the country reminded
me, at this season, except {214} in the vegetation, of the summer in
the Sertao of the province of Bahia, in Brazil. Numerous birds animated
the thickets, and we were preparing to pursue them, when a large
buffalo bull advanced into the river, and immediately sank in the mud.
We hastened up and killed him with several shot. With Messrs. Mitchell
and Cuthbertson[23] I soon afterwards reached the vessel; my American
friends, heated as they were, threw themselves into the water to
refresh themselves. Towards noon, when the thermometer was at 86°, our
other hunters returned, who had killed several buffaloes, and wounded
an antelope. They had seen a herd of at least 100 elks, and wounded one
of them. Mr. Mitchell, with his rifle, had shot down a white-headed
eagle from a high tree, where he was devouring a large fish. The
evening was very pleasant, but the mosquitoes penetrated in such swarms
into the vessel, that we were obliged to stop every aperture of the
cabin, and consequently suffered from the heat.
Early in the morning of the 16th we perceived a herd of buffaloes,
and resolved to go in chase of them; but six bulls, standing near the
bank, got the wind of us, and all fled. We endeavoured to get near
them, but without success; and, after a fatiguing excursion of six
hours, returned back much heated, and did not reach the vessel before
twelve o'clock, which had remained far behind. We then proceeded on our
voyage, and soon after Dechamp and Papin came on board, who had killed
some buffalo cows. Dreidoppel, whom we found further up the river in
the wood, had lighted a fire, over which he roasted the loin of a large
antelope, which he had killed; while he was busy in preparing the skin
of this animal for my zoological collection, he suddenly perceived two
large white wolves standing about ten paces from him, which did not
appear to be at all afraid. He might have shot them both, had not the
ramrod of his rifle been broken. The wood where we took Dreidoppel on
board was full of gooseberries, of a pleasant acid taste, of which our
people brought a great quantity on board. The shrub which bears these
black berries is thickly set with reddish thorns, almost like _Robinia
hispida_.
We were now in sight of the place where Mr. Mitchell, with his
keel-boat, the Beaver, had suffered shipwreck in the preceding
year.[24] On the present occasion, Henry Morrin, our pilot, was very
apprehensive of what might befall us in this dangerous spot. We
followed a narrow channel, between the southern bank and a low willow
island, where we lay to for the night. Our hunters had soon perceived
in this island two large elks, and we therefore stole along before the
thickets, in order to cut them off from the forest.
Mr. Mitchell succeeded in mortally wounding one of them, which,
however, went on for some distance, sprinkling the bushes with its
blood. We followed the trace through a very intricate thicket, till the
night obliged us to return on board without accomplishing our object.
At break of day, on the 17th, we heard the loud howling of the wolves,
which were doubtless disputing about the elk that we had wounded the
day before; but Mr. Mitchell did not wish to lose any time, and we gave
up our booty. The place where the Beaver was wrecked was about {215}
200 steps from our night's quarters, and we went to look at it. At that
time the Beaver had lain about 300 paces further up the river, but in
a dark night was loosened from its moorings by a storm, driven down
the river, and thrown upon a sand bank. Two men were drowned, and Mr.
Mitchell had escaped by an immense leap from the deck to the shore. The
greater part of the cargo, worth 30,000 dollars, was lost: the crew
then built a small fort, or log-house, about forty paces in length,
in which they remained till part of the goods were saved, and another
boat came up to fetch them. In this melancholy situation they were in
danger of a quarrel with a band of Blackfoot Indians. These Indians
were returning by land from Fort Union, to which they had been invited,
on account of the conclusion of the treaty of peace. The presents made
to them by the traders were on board the Beaver, and the greater part
was lost, which much incensed the Indians. The disputants had already
taken up and cocked their pieces, and it was entirely owing to the
resolute conduct of Mr. Mitchell that the matter was amicably settled.
Since that time the bank of the river, at this place, has undergone a
considerable change. Only the pickets, at the back of the log-house,
were still standing; all the rest had been swept away. At that time the
whole place was bare sand; now, it was covered with willows, five feet
high, and the river had carried away the bank for the breadth of, at
least, 100 paces.
Soon after eight o'clock, the thermometer being at 80°, our vessel
reached the place where one of the buffalo cows was lying, near which
the hunters had passed the night, and we took the best part on board.
The hunters of the prairies are often greater savages than the Indians
themselves; they frequently eat the liver and other parts of the
animals they have killed, without dressing it. We had gone but a little
way along the southern bank, when we perceived, below the steep wall,
a beaver's den, of which Mr. Bodmer made a drawing.[25] It consisted
of a heap of twigs and logs, between four and five feet high, and the
entrance was, as usual, below water. The inside of such a den consists
of earth and clay, with pieces of wood, and contains several chambers,
or divisions, in which these remarkable animals lie dry above the
water. A bridge of earth, which likewise contained some wood, led
from the land to the cone-shaped den, the interior of which I was,
to my great regret, prevented from examining. In these rapid rivers,
the beavers build only such light dwellings; but erect larger ones,
skilfully provided with strong dams, only in stagnant waters, such as
lakes, ponds, still arms of rivers, &c. &c. There are, however, some
beavers here which live only in holes in the ground, the entrance to
which is above water. Their chambers are then perhaps eight feet above
the surface of the water, are spacious, and adapted to the number of
animals that live in them.
We had sent people into the forest to cut hatchet-handles of ash wood,
because further up there was no wood of this kind of a sufficient size.
At noon the thermometer was at 81°; the hunters had killed an elk, and
seen several bears. A thunder-storm, with a high wind, obliged us {216}
to fasten the vessel to the shore, and to take other precautions; but
the storm soon abated, and our people caught about five-and-twenty
white cat-fish.
During our voyage, on the 18th of July, I could not help making
comparisons with my journeys on the Brazilian rivers. There, where
nature is so infinitely rich and grand, I heard, from the lofty, thick,
primeval forests on the banks of the rivers, the varied voices of the
parrots, the macaws, and many other birds, as well as of the monkeys,
and other creatures; while here, the silence of the bare, dead, lonely
wilderness is but seldom interrupted by the howling of the wolves, the
bellowing of the buffaloes, or the screaming of the crows. The vast
prairie scarcely offers a living creature, except now and then, herds
of buffaloes and antelopes, or a few deer and wolves. These plains,
which are dry in summer, and frozen in winter, have certainly much
resemblance, in many of their features, with the African deserts.
Many writers have given them the name of savannahs, or grassy plains;
but this expression can be applied, at most, to those of the Lower
Missouri, and is totally inapplicable to the dry, sterile tracts of the
north-west, where a more luxuriant growth of grass may be expected, at
best, only in a few moist places, though various plants, interesting to
the botanist, are everywhere to be found.
On this day, at noon, we reached, on the south bank, an Indian fort, an
expression which I shall often have occasion to use in the sequel; it
is a kind of breastwork, which Indian war-parties construct in haste of
dry trunks of trees. When such parties intend to stop for the night,
they erect a breastwork, sufficiently large, according to their number,
composed of trunks of trees, or thick branches, laid one on the other,
generally either square or triangular. In this bulwark they lie down to
sleep, after having placed sentinels, and are there able to repel an
attack. This fort consisted of a fence, and several angles, enclosing
a rather small space, with the open side towards the river. In the
centre of the space there was a conical hut, composed of wood. Near
this fort, on the same bank of the river, there was a beaver's den made
of a heap of brushwood.
After our hunters had returned, with the flesh of a buffalo, we had
a favourable wind, which allowed us to use our sail. At a turn of
the river we suddenly saw a couple of bears running backwards and
forwards on a sand bank before the willow thickets. One of them at
length went away, and the other ran along the strand, and fell on the
dead body of a buffalo cow, which was half buried in the mud. While
the keel-boat sailed against the stream in the middle of the river,
a boat was put out, into which Messrs. Mitchell and Bodmer, and the
hunters, Dechamp and Dreidoppel, threw themselves, and rowed along the
bank towards the ravenous animal. The sight of this first bear chase
was interesting, and we that remained as spectators on deck awaited
the result with impatience. Dechamp, a bold and experienced hunter,
and an excellent marksman, was put on shore, and crept unperceived
along the strand, till he got to the branch of a tree, about eighty
paces from the bear, in order, in case of need, to intercept his
retreat to the thickets. The {217} ravenous bear sometimes raised
his colossal head, looked around him, and then greedily returned to
his repast; doubtless, because the wind was in our favour, and these
animals are not remarkably quick-sighted. The boat had got to within
fifty paces, when the pieces were levelled. Mr. Mitchell fired the
first mortal shot, behind the shoulder blade. The other shots followed
in quick succession, on which the bear rolled over, uttered fearful
cries, tumbled about ten steps forwards, scratched the wounded places
furiously with his paws, and turned several times completely over. At
this moment Dechamp came up, and put an end to his misery by shooting
him through the head. The huge beast lay stretched out: it was fastened
by ropes to the boat, and conveyed in triumph to the ship, where it was
measured, and a drawing made of it. I much regretted that I had not
taken part in the sport; but I had not believed that it was possible,
in such an open, unprotected spot, to get so near the bear.
This grizzly bear was a male, about three years old, and, therefore,
not of the largest size: he was six feet two inches and two lines
in length, from the nose to the tip of the tail; the latter being
eight inches. His colour was dark brown, with the point of the hair
of a rusty colour, but new hair already appeared of a lighter grey,
with yellow tips. This bear is known to be a very dangerous beast of
prey, and is willingly avoided by the hunters: if fired at, he very
frequently attacks, even if not wounded, when they suddenly come too
near him. If he perceives a man in time, he generally gets out of the
way, especially when he has the wind. Almost all the hunters of the
prairie relate their adventures with the bears, and whole volumes might
be filled with such stories. It is certain that many white men and
Indians have been torn to pieces by these dangerous animals, especially
in former times, when they were very numerous, and lived to a great
age, as may be seen in Lewis and Clarke's Travels. Even last year, five
of Mr. Mitchell's hunters, who had wounded one of these animals, were
so quickly pursued by him, that they were obliged to take refuge in
the Missouri. This species of bear cannot climb, and therefore a tree
is a good means to escape their attacks. The true country of these
animals on the Missouri, where they are at present the most numerous,
is the tract about Milk River. Here there is no wood of any extent
in which they are not found, but they are likewise seen everywhere
in a north-westerly direction. In these solitudes, the long claws
of this bear serve to dig up many kinds of roots in the prairie, on
which he chiefly subsists, but he is especially fond of animal food,
particularly the flesh of dead animals. There is no other species of
bear on the Upper Missouri, for the black bear is not found so high
up. At the place where we had killed the bear, it would have been easy
to shoot many of these animals, by posting ourselves near the dead
buffalo cow: the whole sand bank was covered with the prints of bears'
footsteps, and trodden down like a threshing-floor; but our time was
too short and too precious: we, therefore, proceeded on our voyage till
a violent thunder-storm threatened us, and we lay to, by the high bank
of the prairie, {218} where our bear was skinned. During the night,
torrents of rain fell, which wetted our books and plants in the cabin.
On the following day, the 19th, we had another chase after a colossal
bear, which swam through the Missouri to a dead buffalo; but our
young hunters were this time too eager, and fired too soon, so that
the animal escaped, though probably wounded, as fifteen rifles were
discharged at him. Afterwards we saw several beaver lodges. The people
towed the steamer in the afternoon, making their way along the bank,
through a dense willow thicket. All of a sudden they cried that there
were bears close to them; on which the hunters immediately leaped on
shore. Mr. Mitchell had scarcely arrived at the head of the towers,
when he perceived a she bear with two cubs. Dechamp came to his aid,
and in a few minutes the three animals were in our power. Mr. Mitchell
had killed the mother, which was of a pale yellowish-red colour; one of
the cubs, which was brought alive on board, was whitish about the head
and neck, and brownish grey on the body; the other was dark brown. The
females of these animals are generally of a lighter colour than the
males, which is the case with many beasts of prey, particularly the
European fox. The live cub was in a great rage, and growled terribly;
it was impossible for me to save his life.
After this successful chase we were detained by a high contrary wind,
and it was, therefore, late when we reached the mouth of Milk River,
on the north bank.[26] This river comes down in many windings, and
constitutes the western frontier of the territory of the Assiniboins.
Its waters are generally muddy and mixed with sand, whence it has
its name. It contributes to thicken the waters of the Missouri,
though Lewis and Clarke affirm that it is Maria River which chiefly
contributes to dull their clearness; this, however, is not well
founded, for most travellers, and we ourselves, found the waters of the
Upper Missouri perfectly clear and transparent as far as Muscleshell
River. Even the Maria is at times quite clear and pure. The Moose
Deer or Orignal (_Cervus alces Amer._) is said to be common towards
the upper part of Milk River, and Dechamp himself had killed several
of these animals on the Missouri, in the vicinity of this river. A
little further up we lay to, for the night, on the south bank, where
our hunters killed a bear and a very large buffalo. Mr. Bodmer made
a drawing of the head of the latter magnificent animal, whose thick,
coal-black, wavy frontal hair was eighteen inches long. Some of our
_engagés_ came up, cut up the whole animal, and ate the liver without
cooking it. During the night we had again much wind, and were glad that
we were able to remain in a safe channel of the river.
Early on the morning of the 20th we reached the place where the
Missouri makes a great bend of fifteen miles, the distance across by
land being only 400 or 500 paces. At this place the ice drives in
spring over the flat land, or sandy point, and the tall poplars at the
end of it were rubbed smooth, on the lower part, to half the thickness
of their trunks. This bend is called {219} Le Grand Détour, and there
are several such in this river. The wind, in many of these bends, being
too strong for the efforts of the towers, and the masses falling from
the bank, often endangering our vessel, we lay to under the protection
of the hills on the north bank of a narrow prairie covered with bushes,
where I found the blue-grey butcher-bird, the magpie, and several
common birds, many of which we shot; we also caught a great many
butterflies, which were hovering about the flowers in the burning rays
of the sun. Henry Morrin, our pilot, a very good marksman, brought in
a large male antelope. The other hunters had killed, on the opposite
bank, twelve buffaloes, viz., four bulls, five cows, and three calves,
but brought away only the flesh of the cows, leaving all the rest to
the wolves, the bears, and the vultures: they had missed a large bear.
Towards evening we left our anchorage, but made so little progress,
that, when night came, we were not above a couple of miles from Milk
River.
On the 21st we came to the place where the buffaloes were killed the
day before: part of the flesh of the animals, which had not been
touched, was taken away, and a full grown young bald eagle was shot
down from the nest. It was now the dry season, which, in these parts,
continues from the middle of July to the end of autumn. The whole
prairie was dry and yellow; the least motion, even of a wolf crossing
it, raised the dust. We could recognise the vicinity of the herds of
buffaloes at a distance, from the clouds of dust which they occasioned.
All the small rivers were completely dried up. Even the Missouri was
very shallow, which it always is in summer and autumn. The prairie
hills were now of a pale grey-green colour, with some bushes in the
ravines, but all had a withered, sterile appearance. Soon after mid-day
we saw a large buffalo bull standing on the bank, which seemed to
challenge us, lowering his head and pawing the ground with his fore
feet, so that the dust flew to a great distance around him. We landed
the hunters, who got sight of a bear, but soon lay to, at the end of
a prairie, near the mouth of Big Dry River, which joins the Missouri
on the south side. Its channel, in winter, is several hundred paces in
breadth, and in it was another narrow channel, in which, at this time,
the water was only two feet deep.[27] The right bank of the stream is
steep, and consists of grey clay; the left is covered with low willows;
the whole surrounding country has a bare, desolate appearance.
Continuing our way but very slowly, we perceived, on one of the hills
of the bank, some elks, and, by the aid of our telescopes, saw that
they were large males with immense horns; and at this same moment, a
black bear came from the thicket on the north bank, and began to swim
across the river. The hunters immediately divided into two parties;
the one, including Messrs. Mitchell and Bodmer, going by land along
the bank of the river; the other in the boat, rowing after the bear.
Unluckily our boat got aground, by which the bear got the start, and
came too near to the hunters, who were posted behind the bank. As
soon as he set foot on land, he was killed by several shot. He was
not so large as the one lately killed, of a dark brown colour, and we
contented ourselves with carrying off as trophies only his head and
fore paws. On account of the {220} high wind we did not leave this
spot to-day, and the chase gave us much employment. Scarcely was the
bear killed, when buffalo bulls came into the river in several places,
which we should certainly have killed, if our young men had known how
to restrain their ardour. In the artemisia bushes of the prairie, a
porcupine was caught alive, which was not killed till it was on board
the keel-boat, our _engagés_ declaring that it was a great delicacy.
This animal is of great importance to the Indians, on account of its
quills, which they dye, and use to embroider their clothing, and for
other ornamental purposes.
On the 22nd of July we again saw clay hills, of strange forms, of
friable, blackish-grey clay, with angular or small roundish cones set
upon them. It was only in the clefts and ravines between them, that
there was any vegetation; otherwise, not a blade of grass was to be
seen on them. On the south there was a couple of clay hills resembling
the ruins of an ancient castle, of which Mr. Bodmer made a drawing.
They appeared to us to have some resemblance to what are called "The
Two Brothers," near Bornhofen, on the Rhine. The river makes here a
very considerable bend. Buffaloes were grazing in the prairies, and the
cries of the wild geese were heard on all sides. The hills, with their
singular forms, which were almost always the same, now came near to the
river; most of the conical tops were of a greyish-brown colour; others,
blackish-grey; and many had a top of a burnt-red colour. Even from our
vessel we could distinguish, on all these hills, bright points, which
sparkled in the sunshine, which proved, on examination, to be caused
by the brilliant selenite, which has been mentioned before, and which
occurs everywhere in these clay hills, either in layers or in nests.
On our excursion to-day, we brought back large pieces of this fossil.
We lay to for the night by a sand bank, the clay of which, where it
had been wetted by the water, was cracked and cleft in all directions.
This clay might certainly be used for pottery; on the surface there
were prints of the footsteps of all kinds of wild animals, but we saw
no living creatures but myriads of tormenting mosquitoes. We had made
considerable progress to-day, because a favourable wind had allowed us
to use our sails.
On the 23rd, we passed a dried-up stream, of which we had seen many on
the preceding days, and all of which are among the numerous streams
mentioned by Lewis and Clarke under the name of Dry River. Our hunters
had killed a couple of deer, and several buffalo bulls; and Papin had
roused a covey of the beautiful large prairie, or mountain cock, but
could not get a shot at them. These fine birds live in the prairie, on
the Upper Yellow Stone and the Missouri, and we frequently met with
them in the sequel. In the middle of the day our towers had great
trouble in keeping their footing on the steep, clay hills, in the
barren and crumbling mass of which they sank above their ankles, and
were obliged to assist each other.
The singular clay hills continued on the 24th July. The left bank of
the river consisted of a high clay wall, divided into cubical figures,
rent with many small clefts, and partly of overhanging {221} masses,
looking like chimneys, or pillars, which threatened, every moment, to
fall. There was here a stream with little water, and a marshy bed,
which is, perhaps, the Sticklodge Creek of Lewis and Clarke.[28] While
the wind allayed the heat of the day, we rambled through the prairies
on the bank; as far as the eye could reach there were the bleached
bones of the buffaloes and elks, and their immense horns. A couple of
sparrow-hawks, a kind of lark, and a flock of wild geese, which had
made an excursion from the river into the prairie, were the only large
living creatures that we met with here. Thousands of grasshoppers, many
of them of beautiful colours, were hopping and flying about: numerous
butterflies, but only three or four species, were hovering about the
shrubs in these dry clay steeps, which were bare of grass. There were
a great many ant hills, and mosquitoes, and several other kinds of
troublesome stinging insects. On the offsets of the clay hills which
bounded the prairie on our right, there were banks of sand-stone and
clay-slate standing out; and the detached fragments of stone, which
lay about near them, were covered with beautiful orange-coloured,
yellow, bluish-white and blackish lichens. Several deep ravines, or
clefts, were all dry, and opened towards the high, steep bank of the
Missouri. At some accessible places these ravines were crossed by the
deeply trodden paths of the herds of buffaloes, which wind through the
whole prairie along the chains of hills and the bank of the river. As
we looked round on an eminence, whence we perceived our boat sailing
with a fair wind, we saw an immense buffalo bull, which approached us
slowly, not suspecting any danger: we quickly hid ourselves behind
some bushes on the edge of a deep cleft, and, as the majestic animal
passed through it, we killed it with three well-directed shots. The
magnificent creature lay stretched out about forty paces above the
ravine, and only the advance which our boat had gained obliged us
to leave our prize. At length, however, by firing some shot on the
steep bank of the river, we succeeded in drawing the attention of our
people, and they despatched a boat for us. We took advantage of the
interval to make a second attempt at buffalo hunting, and Dreidoppel,
who was endeavouring to drive some of these animals towards me, killed
a young bull, on which the boat arrived, the crew of which took away
the tongues and part of the flesh of the buffaloes which we had killed.
Much fatigued and heated, we reached our vessel at four o'clock in
the afternoon, after having been exposed, since eight o'clock in the
morning, without a drop of water, to the heat of the sun in the barren,
withered prairies. During our absence, Mr. Bodmer had sketched some
interesting tops of the neighbouring eminences, one of which[29] is
called Half-way Pyramid, because it is half way between the Milk and
Muscleshell Rivers. The whole chain of hills, with its manifold tops,
ravines and hollows, was of a greenish-grey colour, with here and there
some dark spots of pine forest; and this country, with its bright green
meadows, with wood and willows on the bank of the river, has a most
original, singular appearance.
On the 25th July we rambled through the prairies on the north bank,
where we found {222} blackbirds, flycatchers, and the _Fringilla
grammaca_, and roused a large covey of the prairie cock, which flew up
before us with loud clapping of their wings, but which, for want of a
good pointer, we were unable to find again. We took nothing but a hare
and an owl, with some birds which had assembled in great numbers to
teaze the poor light-shunning tyrant of evening. Mr. Bodmer sketched
some more of the remarkable mountain tops.[30] Near that marked Fig.
16, some of our hunters returned with two black-tailed deer and a
young fawn; and, soon afterwards, two buffalo bulls were killed, a
great part of the flesh of which we brought away, because we were
approaching the part of the country called Mauvaises Terres,[31] where
we could not expect to find much large game. In the afternoon we saw
some Indian huts under high poplars on the bank; and, on the northern
bank, sketches were taken of singular mountain tops. In general, the
bare grey masses of the eminences on the bank were so singularly formed
that it was impossible not to wish that an able geologist might make a
minute investigation of the chain. Their tops, like towers, pillars,
&c., were contrasted with the clear blue sky, and the sun caused them
to cast deep shadows. As we were sailing with a fair wind, I was
obliged to submit to the necessity of rapidly passing these highly
interesting scenes. The mountains continued to increase in height; they
were more and more naked and sterile; their colour was whitish-grey,
grey-brown, often spotted with white, the upper part disposed in
horizontal strata, or in narrow stripes; and some isolated summits
rose in the most grotesque forms, and the general appearance reminded
me of the calcareous mountains of Appenzell, in Switzerland. In the
steep wall of the south bank we saw, at a great height, the antlers
of a stag projecting, which must have been imbedded in the alluvium,
which was now washed away by the river. On these rude, naked mountains,
the wild mountain sheep, called the bighorn, or grosse-corne, becomes
more and more numerous the further you proceed up the river. Our towers
killed, in this part, a large rattlesnake, which had just caught some
kind of rat, probably a goffer, and half devoured it. A thunder-storm,
with high wind, suddenly caused our vessel to be in great danger; but
the same wind which had at first thrown us back, became all at once
very favourable when we reached a turn in the river, and sailed, for
some time, rapidly upwards. This brought us to a remarkable place,
where we thought that we saw before us, two white mountain castles.
On the mountain of the south bank, there was a thick, snow-white
layer, a far-extended stratum of a white sand-stone, which had been
partly acted upon by the waters. At the end where it is exposed, being
intersected by the valley, two high pieces, in the shape of buildings,
had remained standing, and upon them lay remains of a more compact,
yellowish-red, thinner stratum of sand-stone, which formed the roofs of
the united building. On the _façade_ of the whole building, there were
small perpendicular slits, which appeared to be so many windows. These
singular natural formations, when seen from a distance, so perfectly
resembled buildings raised by art, that we were deceived by them, till
we were assured of our error. We agreed with {223} Mr. Mitchell to give
to these original works of nature the name of "The White Castles." Mr.
Bodmer has given a very faithful representation of them.[32]
There were similar formations on the north bank likewise; but the
increasing storm did not allow us time to contemplate these wonders:
our sail rent, and we were obliged to seek for shelter at the prairie
of the south bank. We took advantage of the halt to explore the
adjacent country, while the trees bent under the fury of the storm, and
the thunder pealed in the very sultry air. We were now in a lateral
chain of the Mauvaises Terres, a prolongation of the Black Hills, which
here cross the Missouri. We proceeded on a sloping, rough flat, or
prairie, which, with the usual vegetation, stretched along the river,
and gradually becoming uneven and hilly, rose towards the mountains,
and was covered, near the foremost hills, with diversely stratified
fragments and blocks of yellowish-brown sand-stone. All around rose
the wonderful chains of the lofty, bare, whitish-grey or grey-brown
mountains, with their conical or singularly-shaped summits, sloped or
stratified in divers ways, and dotted with scattered groups of dark
green pines. It was during this day's voyage that these mountains
increased so much in elevation, and in originality of character, that
we seemed to be suddenly transported to the mountains of Switzerland.
The Missouri, which is here rather narrow, winds its course, confined
between the high ridges of clay-slate, sand-stone, and clay; and the
torpid, naked scenery around is only animated on the bank by verdant
strips of poplars and young shrubs. On the rough plain, at the foot
of the hills, the vegetation was, for the most part, withered: the
_Allium reticulatum_, with its white flowers, quite dried up; _Cactus
ferox_, poor and shrivelled, and the bones of the buffaloes, bleached
by exposure to the air, bore testimony, even in this solitude, to
the uncertainty of life. The tracks of these colossal animals soon
led our hunters to recent footsteps, and several of them appeared in
the ravines; but thunder-storms, in the north-east and west, soon
poured down torrents of rain, and scared the animals. When the weather
cleared up, we approached nearer to the White Castles, and the illusion
vanished.
On the 26th of July, in the morning, we again viewed the White Castles
in another point of view. The pretty squirrel, called, by Say, _Sciurus
quadrivittatus_, lives in the clay ground of these parts; our towers
caught one, which we kept alive, for a long time, in a cage. Round the
trunk of an old tree the Indians had built a conical hut with pieces of
wood; but in the whole voyage from Fort Union to Fort Mc Kenzie, such
huts were the only signs of human beings, and we did not see a single
Indian. Game was now scarce in the Mauvaises Terres, and Morrin was the
only person who killed anything to-day. In these parts the singular,
perfectly spherical sand-stone balls are also found in the clay hills,
which have been already described at Cannon-ball River; they are
sometimes double, and, here, generally of the size of canister shot.
The prairies were so covered with grasshoppers that the whole surface
of the ground seemed to be alive; and where the dry leaves were still
lying they caused a constant rattling noise. That species was most
{224} numerous which makes a humming noise when flying. Their wings
are greenish-white, with a large black spot; the thighs of a beautiful
orange-red, and the sheaths of the wings a dirty white, with three
blackish transverse stripes.
In the afternoon, there were everywhere, on the banks of the Missouri,
fragments of rock and stone, which proved that we were approaching the
more solid kinds of rock which would succeed the clay mountains. The
river, which was narrow, not more than 100 paces in breadth, made, at
a certain place, a sudden, very short bend in a northern direction.
The south bank, which was exposed to the shock of the waves, was rent
in such a remarkable manner, the clay walls so cleft, split, and
washed out in a thousand varieties of fragments, cones, pyramids, and
isolated points, that it was not without great difficulty, exertion,
and loss of time, that the towers were able to proceed. The whole of
this bank is perfectly bare, and of a greyish-brown colour; no plant
can grow, because the masses of clay are always ready to fall in, and
are subject to perpetual change. The great heat obliged the towers to
drink frequently, which they effected in a singular, often dangerous
position, lying flat on the ground, with their heads downwards, and
their legs above on the slope of the bank. Beyond the bend, the river
was again 180 paces broad.
The night was pleasant, and on the 27th of July, at daybreak, we left
the keel-boat, and followed the track of a large bear, which had dug
up roots everywhere; unluckily two of our hunters had proceeded up and
caused an alarm in the forest. A wilderness full of thorns and briers
joined the wood to the hill, where the mosquitoes were excessively
troublesome. Under its tall slender poplars grew high grass, or a
thick undergrowth of roses, mostly very nourishing food for the wild
animals, which we saw in several places. In the high trees there were
flocks of blackbirds, some flycatchers, which built in old hollow
poplars on the bank, and a beautiful swallow (_Hirundo bicolor_, Bon),
which we had not before seen, and in pursuit of which we spent so much
time that our boat got considerably ahead of us, and we had to make
our way through the prairie, where the thorny bushes sadly rent our
clothes. Where the bank of the river was a steep wall, we saw a great
number of bones of animals imbedded in it, and very often the skulls of
buffaloes, from which the earth had been half washed away, projecting
over the river. Wearied by our long excursion, we refreshed ourselves
with the cool waters of the Missouri, and reached the boat soon after
noon. Messrs. Mitchell and Cuthbertson returned about the same time,
when the thermometer was 85°, from an excursion, in which they had
a delightful prospect from the heights. To the south-west, they had
seen at a distance the Little Rocky Mountain range, like blue clouds;
to the south-east, Muscleshell River. In the green extensive hollow
towards the mountains, they saw the whole prairie covered with herds
of buffaloes. They brought from the heights beautiful impressions of
shells, of which we had found some, on this day, on the bank of the
Missouri. With much labour they had ascended three different eminences,
on the last and highest, at which they arrived, excessively heated,
they were met by a high bleak wind. Here they observed a very {225}
strange formation of stone, namely, a pillar supporting a slab like a
table, consisting of a friable stone--doubtless sand-stone. They had
likewise seen from that eminence the mountain known by the name of the
Bear's-paw.
The following morning, the 28th of July, gave me another occasion to
reflect on the rude manners of our crew. For some time past we had
made a numerous and interesting collection of natural history, many
articles of which we were obliged, for want of room, to leave on deck.
The skins, skulls of animals, and the like, some of which it had cost
us much trouble to procure, were generally thrown into the river during
the night, though Mr. Mitchell had set a penalty of five dollars on
such irregularities. In this manner I lost many highly interesting
specimens; and on board our keel-boat, with the most favourable
opportunities, it was hardly possible to make a collection of natural
history, if I except the herbarium, which we kept in the cabin, under
our eyes, so that we brought but a small part of what we had collected
to Fort Mc Kenzie.
In order to find Muscleshell River, which could not be far off, I
landed early, with Messrs. Mitchell and Cuthbertson, on the south bank,
where there was a fine shady poplar-grove, with a high undergrowth of
roses, dogwood, and gooseberries. Through this thorny disagreeable
thicket we followed the tracks of the wild animals, which led us to
some open places covered with high grass; and beyond the wood a verdant
prairie, where we gathered many interesting plants. We, however, did
not find Muscleshell River, which was further up, and a storm with
heavy rain drove us back to the boat, where we arrived wet through and
through. At eleven o'clock in the forenoon, however, we reached the
mouth of the river which we had sought for.
Muscleshell River, the Coquille of the Canadians,[33] joins the
Missouri on the south-west side, and at its mouth, which is seventy
paces broad, both its banks are covered with poplars, partly high
trees, partly bushes. About eight hundred paces upward there are, on
its banks, high hills, covered with greyish-green short grass, and
spots of pines. Its course is for a long time nearly parallel with that
of the Missouri. We were told that the distance from Fort Mc Kenzie to
its banks is only between thirty and forty miles, and that it is only
five or six miles from its mouth that it turns towards the Missouri.
Lewis and Clarke reckon 2270 miles from the junction of these two
rivers to the mouth of the latter. Wandering Indians are found only
occasionally on the banks of the Muscleshell, but they are said to
be at all times about its sources. It is reckoned that its mouth is
halfway between Fort Union and Fort Mc Kenzie: we could not hope to
reach the latter in less than seventeen or eighteen days, though the
navigation of the Missouri, from the mouth of the Muscleshell upwards,
is more easy than before, because its course is straighter, its banks
more rocky, and there are neither branches of trees nor drift-wood in
its bed.
FOOTNOTES:
[14] See Plate 67, figure 1, in the accompanying atlas, our volume
xxv.--ED.
[15] For Ross Cox, see Franchère's _Narrative_, in volume vi of our
series, p. 276, note 84.--ED.
[16] Now Big Muddy River, the first large northern affluent of
the Missouri west of the Yellowstone. It rises on the borders of
Assiniboia, flows nearly a southern course, and forms the eastern
boundary of Fort Peck Indian reservation.--ED.
[17] The variable hare of the Upper Missouri appears to be the _Lepus
Virginianus_ of Warden. I lost all my fine specimens, and therefore
cannot compare this species with those in Europe.--MAXIMILIAN.
[18] See Plate 68, figures 12, 17, in the accompanying atlas, our
volume xxv.--ED.
[19] Lewis and Clark so named this stream from the unusual number of
porcupines seen near its mouth. The present Porcupine River is a branch
of the Milk. The stream here so designated is now Poplar River, whose
several branches have their rise on the southern border of Assiniboia;
it flows nearly south into the Missouri, through Fort Peck Indian
reservation. The station of Poplar, on the Great Northern Railway, is
near its mouth.--ED.
[20] Deschamps was probably one of the family of half-breeds who were
later (1835) murdered at Fort Union. See _Larpenteur's Journal_, i, pp.
77, 78, 95-101; also note 124, _post_, p. 151.--ED.
[21] Probably Red Water Creek, just above Poplar River, but on the
south, not north, side of the Missouri. In the _Original Journals_,
both Lewis and Clark speak of this creek as on the "larboard side."
There is some reason to think that Maximilian was mistaken in his
identification of these three rivers of Lewis and Clark--Martha's,
Porcupine, and Two Thousand Mile Creek. The one called by him Martha's,
or La Rivière aux Trembles, was probably the present Poplar, which
would correspond to the French-Canadian name; but this was not the
river named Martha's by Lewis and Clark (see _ante_, note 16).
Maximilian speaks of Porcupine River as a "small stream," while in
reality it was the largest river passed above the Yellowstone, and
Lewis and Clark considered it as a possible line of communication with
the Saskatchewan. Maximilian's "Porcupine" would thus be either Tulle
Creek, or some of the smaller northern affluents of this stretch of the
river, which would also account for his misplacing Two Thousand Mile
Creek.--ED.
[22] See Plate 21, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.
[23] Alexander Culbertson, who afterwards was prominent as chief
factor and partner of the American Fur Company, had, in this year
(1833), entered its employ, upon recommendation of an uncle, John
Culbertson, with whom he had been in Florida the preceding years.
Born of Scotch-Irish stock in Pennsylvania (1809), he was a large
man, of a mild temperament, and popular both with his subordinates
and the Indians. He married a Blackfoot woman, and was for several
years in charge of Fort Mc Kenzie; he also built Fort Sarpy, Fort
Lewis, and Fort Benton. In 1861 he retired from the company, having
made a considerable fortune, and went to live in Peoria, Illinois.
He nevertheless was frequently in the Indian country thereafter,
and in 1863 was present at a Sioux attack upon the upper river (see
_Larpenteur's Journal_, ii, pp. 350, 351). He also served as official
interpreter for the government, in 1869 and 1874. What is essentially
the journal of Major Culbertson's life in the Indian country, is
published by the Montana Historical Society under title, "Affairs at
Fort Benton," in their _Contributions_, iii, pp. 201-287. He most
entertainingly describes Prince Maximilian's visit (see preface to our
volume xxii).--ED.
[24] For a description of this disaster, which was occasioned by a
severe windstorm, see Montana Historical Society _Contributions_,
iii, pp. 204, 205; two employés and one Indian were drowned. Mitchell
sent an express to Fort Union with news of the catastrophe, meanwhile
fortifying within a small barricade. Aid was sent, and the party
enabled to proceed.--ED.
[25] See Plate 17, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.
[26] Milk River was named by Lewis and Clark from the peculiar color of
its waters, "being about the color of a cup of tea with the admixture
of a tablespoonful of milk"--_Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition_, ii, p. 10. It is by far the largest of the northern
tributaries of the Missouri, rising in the main range of the Rockies in
north-west Montana, and flowing in a generally eastern course on both
sides of the international boundary line--the 49th parallel. The stream
drains the territory between the Saskatchewan and the Missouri, and its
valley is for many miles followed by the Great Northern Railway.--ED.
[27] Big Dry River, which retains the name assigned it by Lewis and
Clark, is the largest southern tributary of the Missouri between the
Yellowstone and the Musselshell. It is, as described by Maximilian,
a vast coulée, stretching to the Yellowstone watershed. When Lewis
and Clark passed (May 9, 1805), there was no running water within it,
although the bed was as wide at this point as that of the Missouri.--ED.
[28] This creek is on the larboard (south) bank of the river, and was
charted by Lewis and Clark; but it has not been identified, for the
reason that this region has not yet been topographically studied.--ED.
[29] See Plate 68, figure 15, in the accompanying atlas, our volume
XXV.--ED.
[30] See Plate 68, figures 16, 18, in the accompanying atlas, our
volume XXV.--ED.
[31] The French-Canadian engagés applied the term "Bad Lands" to many
parts of the West. Those districts now usually thus designated, are in
the valley of the Little Missouri in North Dakota. The Montana stretch
here mentioned is in Dawson and Valley counties, and an outlying spur
of this peculiar formation.--ED.
[32] See Plate 70, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.
[33] The Musselshell, a principal southern tributary of the Missouri,
rises east of the Big Belt Mountains, and flows east and north-east,
parallel to the Yellowstone; it thence makes an abrupt turn
northward into the Missouri. Lewis and Clark give its Indian name as
"Mah-tush-ahzhah."--ED.