The party encamp amongst the Chopunnish, and receive further
evidences of their hospitality--the Indian mode of boiling
bears-flesh--of gelding horses--their mode of decoying the
deer within reach of their arrows--character of the soil and
climate in the Rocky mountains--varieties of climate--character
of the natives--their dress and ornaments--mode of burying
the dead--the party administer medical relief to the
natives--one of the natives restored to the use of his limbs
by sweating, and the curious process by which perspiration was
excited--another proof of Chopunnish hospitably--success of
their sweating prescription on the Indian chief--description of
the horned lizzard, and a variety of insects--the attachment
of the friends of a dying Indian to a tomahawk which he had
stolen from the party, and which they desired to bury with the
body--description of the river Tommanamah--the Indians return
an answer to a proposition made by the party.
Tuesday, 15. Our medical visits occupied us till a late hour, after
which we collected our horses and proceeded for two miles in a
southeastern direction, crossing a branch from the right, at the
distance of a mile. We then turned nearly north, and crossing an
extensive open bottom, about a mile and a half wide, reached the bank
of the Kooskooskee. Here we expected the canoe which they had promised;
but although a man had been despatched with it at the appointed time,
he did not arrive before sunset. We therefore encamped, with a number
of Indians who had followed us from the village, and in the morning.
Wednesday 14, after sending out some hunters, transported the baggage
by means of the canoe, and then drove our horses into the river, over
which they swam without accident, although it is one hundred and fifty
yards wide, and the current very rapid. We then descended the river
about half a mile, and formed our camp on the spot which the Indians
had recommended. It was about forty paces from the river, and formerly
an Indian habitation; but nothing remained at present but a circle
thirty yards in diameter, sunk in the ground about four feet, with
a wall round it of nearly three and a half feet in height. In this
place we deposited our baggage, and round its edges formed our tents
of sticks and grass. This situation is in many respects advantageous.
It is an extensive level bottom, thinly covered with long-leafed pine,
with a rich soil, affording excellent pasture, and supplied, as well
as the high and broken hills on the east and northeast, with the best
game in the neighbourhood; while its vicinity to the river makes it
convenient for the salmon, which are now expected daily. As soon as we
had encamped, Tunnachemootoolt and Hohastilpilp, with about twelve of
their nation, came to the opposite side and began to sing, this being
the usual token of friendship on similar occasions. We sent the canoe
for them, and the two chiefs came over with several of the party,
among whom were the two young men who had given us the two horses in
behalf of the nation. After smoking some time, Hohastilpilp presented
to captain Lewis an elegant gray gelding, which he had brought for
the purpose, and was perfectly satisfied at receiving in return a
handkerchief, two hundred balls, and four pounds of powder.
The hunters killed some pheasants, two squirrels, and a male and female
bear, the first of which was large and fat, and of a bay colour; the
second meagre, grisly, and of smaller size. They were of the species
common to the upper part of the Missouri, and might well be termed the
variegated bear, for they are found occasionally of a black grisly
brown or red colour. There is every reason to believe them to be of
precisely the same species. Those of different colours are killed
together, as in the case of these two, and as we found the white and
bay associated together on the Missouri; and some nearly white were
seen in this neighbourhood by the hunters. Indeed, it is not common to
find any two bears of the same colour, and if the difference in colour
were to constitute a distinction of species, the number would increase
to almost twenty. Soon after they killed a female bear with two cubs.
The mother was black, with a considerable intermixture of white hairs
and a white spot on the breast. One of the cubs was jet black, and
the other of a light reddish brown, or bay colour. The foil of these
variegated bears, are much finer, longer, and more abundant than that
of the common black bear: but the most striking difference between them
is, that the former are larger, have longer tusks, and longer as well
as blunter talons; that they prey more on other animals; that they lie
neither so long nor so closely in winter quarters, and never climb a
tree, however closely pressed by the hunters. This variegated bear,
though specifically the same with those we met on the Missouri, are by
no means so ferocious, probably, because of the scarcity of game, and
the habit of living on roots may have weaned them from the practices
of attacking and devouring animals. Still, however, they are not so
passive as the common black bear, which are also to be found here; for
they have already fought with our hunters, though with less fury than
those on the other side of the mountain.
A large part of the meat we gave to the Indians, to whom it was a real
luxury, as they scarcely taste flesh once in a month. They immediately
prepared a large fire of dried wood, on which were thrown a number
of smooth stones from the river. As soon as the fire went down, and
the stones were heated, they were laid next to each other, in a level
position, and covered with a quantity of branches of pine, on which
were placed flitches of the bear, and thus placing the boughs and flesh
alternately for several courses, leaving a thick layer of pine on the
top. On this heap was then poured a small quantity of water, and the
whole covered with earth to the depth of four inches. After remaining
in this state about three hours, the meat was taken off, and was
really more tender than that which we had boiled or roasted, though the
strong flavour of the pine, rendered it disagreeable to our palates.
This repast gave them much satisfaction, for though they sometimes kill
the black bear, yet they attack very reluctantly the furious variegated
bear, and only when they can pursue him on horseback, through the
plains, and shoot him with arrows.
The stone horses we found so troublesome that we have endeavoured to
exchange them for either mares or geldings; but although we offered two
for one, they were unwilling to barter. It was therefore determined to
castrate them; and being desirous of ascertaining the best method of
performing this operation, two were gelded in the usual manner, while
one of the natives tried the experiment in the Indian way, without
tying the string of the stone (which he assured us was much the better
plan) and carefully scraping the string clean and separating it from
the adjoining veins before cutting it. All the horses recovered; but we
afterwards found that those on which the Indian mode had been tried,
although they bled more profusely at first, neither swell nor appear
to suffer as much as the others, and recovered sooner, so that we are
fully persuaded that the Indian method is preferable to our own.
May 15. As we shall now be compelled to pass some time in this
neighbourhood, a number of hunters were sent in different directions,
and the rest were employed in completing the camp. From this labour
we, however, exempted five of the men, two of whom are afflicted with
cholic, and the others complain of violent pains in the head, all
which are occasioned, we presume, by the diet of roots, to which they
have recently been confined. We secured the baggage with a shelter
of grass, and made a kind of bower of the under part of an old sail;
the leathern tent being now too rotten for use, while the men formed
very comfortable huts in the shape of the awning of a wagon, by means
of willow poles and grass. Tunnachemootoolt and his young men left
us this morning on their way home; and soon after we were visited by
a party of fourteen Indians on horseback, armed with bows and arrows
going on a hunting excursion. The chief game is the deer, and whenever
the ground will permit, the favourite hunt is on horseback; but in the
woodlands, where this is impracticable, they make use of a decoy. This
consists of the skin of the head and upper part of the neck of a deer,
kept in its natural shape by a frame of small sticks on the inside.
As soon as the hunter perceives a deer he conceals himself, and with
his hand moves the decoy so as to represent a real deer in the act of
feeding, which is done so naturally that the game is seduced within
reach of their arrows.
We also exercised our horses by driving them together, so as to
accustom them to each other, and incline them the less to separate. The
next morning,
Friday 16, an Indian returned with one of them, which had strayed away
in the night to a considerable distance, an instance of integrity and
kindness by no means singular among the Chopunnish. Hohastilpilp,
with the rest of the natives left us to-day. The hunters who have
as yet come in, brought nothing, except a few pheasants, so that
we still place our chief reliance on the mush made of roots (among
these the cows and the quamash are the principal) with which we use
a small onion, which grows in great abundance, and which corrects
any bad effects they may have on the stomach. The cows and quamash,
particularly, incline to produce flatulency, to obviate which we
employ a kind of fennel, called by the Shoshonees, yearhah, resembling
anniseed in flavour, and a very agreeable food.
In the course of the day two other hunters brought in a deer. The
game they said was scarce; but they had wounded three bear as white
as sheep. The last hunters who had left us yesterday, also came in
to-night, with information, that at the distance of five or six miles,
they attempted to cross Collins’s creek, on the other side, where game
is most abundant, but that they could not ford it with their horses,
on account of its depth, and the rapidity of the current.
Saturday, 17. It rained during the greater part of the night, and our
flimsy covering being insufficient for our protection, we lay in the
water most of the time. What was more unlucky, our chronometer became
wet, and, in consequence, somewhat rusty, but by care we hope to
restore it. The rain continued nearly the whole day, while on the high
plains the snow is falling, and already two or three inches in depth.
The bad weather confined us to the camp and kept the Indians from us,
so that for the first time since we left the narrows of the Columbia, a
day has passed without our being visited by any of the natives.
The country along the Rocky mountains for several hundred miles in
length and about fifty wide, is a high level plain; in all its parts
extremely fertile, and in many places covered with a growth of tall
long-leafed pine. This plain is chiefly interrupted near the streams
of water, where the hills are steep and lofty; but the soil is good,
being unincumbered by much stone, and possess more timber than the
level country. Under shelter of these hills, the bottom lands skirt
the margin of the rivers, and though narrow and confined, are still
fertile and rarely inundated. Nearly the whole of this wide spread
tract is covered with a profusion of grass and plants, which are at
this time as high as the knee. Among these are a variety of esculent
plants and roots, acquired without much difficulty, and yielding not
only a nutritious, but a very agreeable food. The air is pure and dry,
the climate quite as mild, if not milder, than the same parallels of
latitude in the Atlantic states, and must be equally healthy, for all
the disorders which we have witnessed, may fairly be imputed more
to the nature of the diet than to any intemperance of climate. This
general observation is of course to be qualified, since in the same
tract of country, the degrees of the combination of heat and cold obey
the influence of situation. Thus the rains of the low grounds near
our camp, are snows in the high plains, and while the sun shines with
intense heat in the confined bottoms, the plains enjoy a much colder
air, and the vegetation is retarded at least fifteen days, while at
the foot of the mountains the snows are still many feet in depth; so
that within twenty miles of our camp we observe the rigours of winter
cold, the cool air of spring and the oppressive heat of midsummer. Even
on the plains, however, where the snow has fallen, it seems to do but
little injury to the grass and other plants, which, though apparently
tender and susceptible, are still blooming, at the height of nearly
eighteen inches through the snow. In short, this district affords many
advantages to settlers, and if properly cultivated, would yield every
object necessary for the subsistence and comfort of civilized man.
The Chopunnish themselves are in general stout, well formed, and
active; they have high, and many of them aqueline noses, and the
general appearance of the face is cheerful and agreeable, though
without any indication of gayety and mirth. Like most of the Indians
they extract their beards; but the women only pluck the hair from the
rest of the body. That of the men is very often suffered to grow, nor
does there appear to be any natural deficiency in that respect; for we
observe several men, who, if they had adopted the practice of shaving,
would have been as well supplied as ourselves. The dress of both sexes
resembles that of the Shoshonees, and consists of a long shirt reaching
to the thigh, leggings as high as the waist, moccasins and robes, all
of which are formed of skins.
Their ornaments are beads, shells, and pieces of brass attached to
different parts of the dress, or tied round the arms, neck, wrists,
and over the shoulders: to these are added pearls and beads, suspended
from the ears, and a single shell of wampum through the nose. The
head-dress of the men is a bandeau of fox or otter skin, either with or
without the fur, and sometimes an ornament is tied to a plait of hair,
falling from the crown of the head: that of the women is a cap without
rim, formed of bear grass and cedar bark; while the hair itself, of
both sexes, falls in two rows down the front of the body. Collars of
bears’ claws are also common. But the personal ornament most esteemed
is a sort of breastplate, formed of a strip of otter skin, six inches
wide, cut out of the whole length of the back of the animal, including
the head; this being dressed with the hair on, a hole is made at the
upper end, through which the head of the wearer is placed, and the skin
hangs in front with the tail reaching below the knee, and ornamented
with pieces of pearl, red cloth, and wampum; or, in short, any other
fanciful decoration. Tippets also are occasionally worn. That of
Hohastilpilp was formed of human scalps, and adorned with the thumbs
and fingers of several men slain by him in battle.
The Chopunnish are among the most amiable men we have seen. Their
character is placid and gentle, rarely moved into passion, yet not
often enlivened by gayety. Their amusements consist in running races,
shooting with arrows at a target, and they partake of the great and
prevailing vice of gambling. They are, however, by no means so much
attached to baubles as the generality of Indians, but are anxious
to obtain articles of utility, such as knives, tomahawks, kettles,
blankets, and awls for moccasins. They have also suffered so much from
the superiority of their enemies, that they are equally desirous of
procuring arms and ammunition, which they are gradually acquiring, for
the band of Tunnachemootoolt have already six guns, which they acquired
from the Minnetarees.
The Chopunnish bury their dead in sepulchres, formed of boards,
constructed like the roof of a house. The body is rolled in skins and
laid one over another, separated by a board only, both above and below.
We have sometimes seen their dead buried in wooden boxes, and rolled
in skins in the manner above mentioned. They sacrifice their horses,
canoes, and every other species of property to their dead; the bones of
many horses are seen lying round their sepulchres.
Among the reptiles common to this country are the two species of
innocent snakes already described, and the rattlesnake, which last is
of the same species as that of the Missouri, and though abundant here,
is the only poisonous snake we have seen between the Pacific and the
Missouri. Besides these there are the common black lizard and horned
lizard. Of frogs there are several kinds, such as the small green
tree frog, the small frog common in the United States, which sings in
the spring of the year, a species of frog frequenting the water, much
larger than the bull-frog, and in shape between the delicate length of
the bull-frog, and the shorter and less graceful form of the toad like;
the last of which, however, its body is covered with little pustules,
or lumps: we have never heard it make a noise of any kind. Neither the
toad bull-frog; the moccasin-snake, nor the copperhead-snake are to be
found here. Captain Lewis killed a snake near the camp three feet and
eleven inches in length, and much the colour of the rattlesnake. There
was no poisonous tooth to be found. It had two hundred and eighteen
scuta on the abdomen, and fifty-nine squama or half formed scuta on
the tail. The eye was of a moderate size: the iris of a dark yellowish
brown, and the pupil black. There was nothing remarkable in the form
of the head, which was not so wide across the jaws as that of the
poisonous class of snakes usually are.
There is a species of lizard, which we have called the horned lizard,
about the size and much resembling in figure the ordinary black lizard.
The belly is, notwithstanding, broader, the tail shorter, and the
action much slower than the ordinary lizard. It crawls like the toad,
is of a brown colour, and interspersed with yellowish brown spots;
it is covered with minute shells, interspersed with little horny
projections like prickles on the upper part of the body. The belly and
throat resemble the frogs, and are of a light yellowish brown. The
edge of the belly is regularly beset with these horny projections,
which give to those edges a serrate figure; the eye is small and of a
dark colour. Above and behind the eyes are several projections of the
bone, which being armed at the extremities with a firm black substance,
having the appearance of horns sprouting from the head, has induced
us to call it the horned lizard. These animals are found in great
abundance in the sandy parts of the plains, and after a shower of rain
are seen basking in the sun. For the greatest part of the time they are
concealed in holes. They are found in great numbers on the banks of
the Missouri, and in the plains through which we have passed above the
Wollawollahs.
Most of the insects common to the United States are seen in this
country: such as the butterfly, the common housefly, the blowingfly,
the horsefly, except one species of it, the gold-coloured earfly, the
place of which is supplied by a fly of a brown colour, which attaches
itself to the same part of the horse, and is equally troublesome.
There are likewise nearly all the varieties of beatles known in the
Atlantic states, except the large cow beatle, and the black beatle,
commonly called the tumblebug. Neither the hornet, the wasp, nor
the yellowjacket inhabit this part of the country, but there is an
insect resembling the last of these, though much larger, which is very
numerous, particularly in the Rocky mountains and on the waters of the
Columbia; the body and abdomen are yellow, with transverse circles of
black, the head black, and the wings, which are four in number, of a
dark brown colour: their nests are built in the ground, and resemble
that of the hornet, with an outer covering to the comb. These insects
are fierce, and sting very severely, so that we found them very
troublesome in frightening our horses as we passed the mountains. The
silkworm is also found here, as well as the humble-bee, though the
honey-bee is not.
May 18. Twelve hunters set out this morning after the bear, which are
now our chief dependence; but as they are now ferocious, the hunters
henceforward never go except in pairs. Soon after they left us, a party
of Chopunnish erected a hut on the opposite side of the river in order
to watch the salmon, which is expected to arrive every day. For this
purpose they have constructed with sticks, a kind of wharf, projecting
about ten feet into the river, and three feet above its surface, on
the extremity of which one of the fishermen exercised himself with a
scooping net, similar to that used in our country; but after several
hours’ labour he was still unsuccessful. In the course of the morning
three Indians called at our camp and told us that they had been hunting
near the place where we met the Chopunnish last autumn, and which is
called by then the quamash grounds, but after roaming about for several
days had killed nothing. We gave them a small piece of meat, which they
said they would keep for their small children, which they said were
very hungry, and then, after smoking, took leave of us. Some of our
hunters returned almost equally unsuccessful. They had gone over the
whole country between Collins’s creek and the Kooskooskee, to their
junction, at the distance of ten miles, without seeing either a deer or
bear, and at last brought in a single hawk and a salmon dropped by an
eagle. This last was not in itself considerable, but gave us hopes of
soon seeing that fish in the river, an event which we ardently desire,
for though the rapid rise of the river denotes a great decrease of snow
on the mountains, yet we shall not be able to leave our camp for some
time.
Monday, 19. After a cold rainy night, during a greater part of which we
lay in the water, the weather became fair, and we then sent some men
to a village above us, on the opposite side, to purchase some roots.
They carried with them for this purpose a small collection of alls,
knitting pins, and armbands, with which they obtained several bushels
of the root of cows, and some bread of the same material. They were
followed too by a train of invalids from the village, who came to ask
for our assistance. The men were generally afflicted with sore eyes,
but the women had besides this a variety of other disorders, chiefly
rheumatic, a violent pain and weakness in the loins, which is a common
complaint among the females, and one of them seemed much dejected, and
as we thought, from the account of her disease, hysterical. We gave her
thirty drops of laudanum, and after administering eye-water and rubbing
the rheumatic patients with volatile linament, and giving cathartics to
others, they all thought themselves much relieved, and returned highly
satisfied to the village. We were fortunate enough to retake one of the
horses on which we crossed the Rocky mountains in the autumn, and which
had become almost wild since that time.
Tuesday, 20. Again it rained during the night, and the greater part of
this day. Our hunters were out in different directions, but though they
saw a bear and a deer or two, they only killed one of the latter, which
proved to be of the mule-deer species. The next day,
Wednesday 21, finding the rain still continue we left our ragged sail
tent, and formed a hut with willow poles and grass. The rest of the
men were occupied in building a canoe for present use, as the Indians
promise to give us a horse for it when we leave them. We received
nothing from our hunters except a single sandhill crane, which are
very abundant in this neighbourhood, and consumed at dinner the last
morsel of meat which we have. As there now seems but little probability
of our procuring a stock of dried meat, and the fish is as yet an
uncertain resource, we made a division of all our stock of merchandise,
so as to enable the men to purchase a store of roots and bread for the
mountains. We might ourselves collect those roots, but as there are
several species of hemlock growing among the cows, and difficult to
be distinguished from that plant, we are afraid to suffer the men to
collect them, lest the party might be poisoned by mistaking them. On
parcelling out the stores, the stock of each man was found to consist
of only one awl and one knitting-pin, half an ounce of vermillion, two
needles, a few skeins of thread, and about a yard of riband--a slender
means of bartering for our subsistence; but the men have been now so
much accustomed to privations, that neither the want of meat nor the
scanty funds of the party, excite the least anxiety among them.
Thursday, 22. We availed ourselves of the fair weather to dry our
baggage and store of roots, and being still without meat, killed one
of our colts, intending to reserve the other three for the mountains.
In the afternoon we were amused by a large party of Indians, on the
opposite side of the river, hunting on horseback. After riding at full
speed down the steep hills, they at last drove the deer into the river,
where we shot it, and two Indians immediately pursued it on a raft, and
took it. Several hunters, who had gone to a considerable distance near
the mountains, returned with five deer. They had purchased also two red
salmon trout, which the Indians say remain in this river during the
greater part of the winter, but are not good at this season, as it in
fact appeared, for they were very meagre. The salmon, we understand,
are now arrived at no great distance, in Lewis’s river, but some days
will yet elapse before they come up to this place. This, as well as the
scarcity of game, made us wish to remove lower down; but on examination
we found that there was no place in that direction calculated for a
camp, and therefore resolved to remain in our present position. Some
uneasiness has been excited by a report, that two nights ago a party
of Shoshonees had surrounded a Chopunnish house, on the south side of
Lewis’s river, but the inhabitants having discovered their intentions,
had escaped without injury.
Friday, 23. The hunters were sent out to make a last effort to procure
provisions, but after examining the whole country between Collins’s
creek and the Kooskooskee, they found nothing except a few pheasants
of the dark brown kind. In the meantime we were visited by four Indians
who had come from a village on Lewis’s river, at the distance of two
days’ ride, who came for the purpose of procuring a little eye-water:
the extent of our medical fame is not a little troublesome, but we
rejoice at any circumstance which enables us to relieve these poor
creatures, and therefore willingly washed their eyes, after which they
returned home.
Saturday, 24. This proved the warmest day we have had since our arrival
here. Some of our men visited the village of the Brokenarm, and
exchanged some awls, which they had made of the links of a small chain
belonging to one of their steel traps, for a plentiful supply of roots.
Besides administering medical relief to the Indians, we are obliged to
devote much of our time to the care of our own invalids. The child of
Sacajawea is very unwell; and with one of the men we have ventured an
experiment of a very robust nature. He has been for some time sick,
but has now recovered his flesh, eats heartily and digests well, but
has so great a weakness in the loins that he cannot walk nor even
sit upright without extreme pain. After we had in vain exhausted the
resources of our art, one of the hunters mentioned that he had known
persons in similar situations restored by violent sweats, and at the
request of the patient, we permitted the remedy to be applied. For
this purpose, a hole about four feet deep and three in diameter was
dug in the earth, and heated well by a large fire in the bottom of it.
The fire was then taken out, and an arch formed over the hole by means
of willow poles, and covered with several blankets, so as to make a
perfect awning. The patient being stripped naked, was seated under
this on a bench, with a piece of board for his feet, and with a jug of
water sprinkled the bottom and sides of the hole, so as to keep up as
hot a steam as he could bear. After remaining twenty minutes in this
situation, he was taken out, immediately plunged twice in cold water,
and brought back to the hole, where he resumed the vapour bath. During
all this time he drank copiously a strong infusion of horsemint, which
was used as a substitute for the seneca root, which our informant
said he had seen employed on these occasions, but of which there is
none in this country. At the end of three quarters of an hour, he was
again withdrawn from the hole, carefully wrapped, and suffered to cool
gradually. This operation was performed yesterday, and this morning
he walked about, and is nearly free from pain. About eleven o’clock a
canoe arrived with three Indians, one of whom was the poor creature
who had lost the use of his limbs, and for whose recovery the natives
seem very anxious, as he is a chief of considerable rank among them.
His situation is beyond the reach of our skill. He complains of no pain
in any peculiar limb, and we therefore think his disorder cannot be
rheumatic, as his limbs would have been more diminished if his disease
had been a paralytic affection. We had already ascribed it to his diet
of roots, and had recommended his living on fish and flesh, and using
the cold bath every morning, with a dose of cream of tarter, or flowers
of sulphur, every third day. Those prescriptions seem to have been of
little avail, but as he thinks himself somewhat better for them, we
concealed our ignorance by giving him a few drops of laudanum and a
little portable soup, with a promise of sweating him, as we had done
our own man. On attempting it however, in the morning,
Sunday 25, we found that he was too weak to sit up or be supported in
the hole: we therefore told the Indians that we knew of no other remedy
except frequent perspirations in their own sweat-houses, accompanied
by drinking large quantities of the decoction of horsemint, which we
pointed out to them. Three hunters set out to hunt towards the Quamash
flats if they could pass Collins’s creek. Others crossed the river
for the same purpose, and one of the men was sent to a village on the
opposite side, about eight miles above us. Nearly all the inhabitants
were either hunting, digging roots, or fishing in Lewis’s river, from
which they had brought several fine salmon. In the course of the day,
some of our hunters wounded a female bear with two cubs, one of which
was white and the other perfectly black.
The Indians who accompanied the sick chief are so anxious for his
safety that they remained with us all night, and in the morning,
Monday 26, when we gave him some cream of tartar, and portable soup,
with directions how to treat him, they still lingered about us in hopes
we might do something effectual, though we desired them to take him
home.
The hunters sent out yesterday returned with Hohastilpilp, and a number
of inferior chiefs and warriors. They had passed Commearp creek at
the distance of one and a half miles, and a larger creek three miles
beyond; they then went on till they were stopped by a large creek ten
miles above our camp, and finding it too deep and rapid to pass, they
returned home. On their way, they stopped at a village four miles up
the second creek, which we have never visited, and where they purchased
bread and roots on very moderate terms; an article of intelligence
very pleasing at the present moment, when our stock of meat is again
exhausted. We have however still agreeable prospects, for the river is
rising fast, as the snows visibly diminish, and we saw a salmon in the
river to-day. We also completed our canoe.
Tuesday 27. The horse which the Indians gave us some time ago, had gone
astray; but in our present dearth of provisions we searched for him
and killed him. Observing that we were in want of food, Hohastilpilp
informed us that most of the horses which we saw running at large
belonged to him or his people, and requested that whenever we wished
any meat we would make use of them without restraint. We have, indeed,
on more than one occasion, had to admire the generosity of this
Indian, whose conduct presents a model of what is due to strangers in
distress. A party was sent to the village discovered yesterday, and
returned with a large supply of bread and roots. Sergeant Ordway and
two men were also despatched to Lewis’s river, about half a day’s ride
to the south, where we expect to obtain salmon, which are said to be
very abundant at that place. The three men who had attempted to go
to the Quamah flats, returned with five deer; but although they had
proceeded some distance up Collins’s creek, it continued too deep for
them to cross. The Indians who accompanied the chief, were so anxious
to have the operation of sweating him performed under our inspection,
that we determined to gratify them by making a second attempt. The
hole was therefore enlarged, and the father of the chief, a very good
looking old man, went in with him, and held him in a proper position.
This strong evidence of feeling is directly opposite to the received
opinions of the insensibility of savages, nor are we less struck by
the kindness and attention paid to the sick man by those who are
unconnected with him, which are the more surprising, as the long
illness of three years might be supposed to exhaust their sympathy. We
could not produce as complete a perspiration as we desired, and after
he was taken out, he complained of suffering considerable pain, which
we relieved with a few drops of laudanum, and he then rested well. The
next morning,
Wednesday 28, he was able to use his arms, and feels better than he has
done for many months, and set up during the greater part of the day.
We sent to the village of Tunnachemootolt for bread and roots, and a
party of hunters set out to hunt up a creek, about eight miles above
us. In the evening, another party, who had been so fortunate as to find
a ford across Collins’s creek, returned from the Quamah flats with
eight deer, of which they saw great numbers, though there were but few
bears. Having now a tolerable stock of meat, we were occupied during
the following day,
Thursday 29, in various engagements in the camp. The Indian chief is
still rapidly recovering, and for the first time during the last twelve
months, had strength enough to wash his face. We had intended to repeat
the sweating to-day, but as the weather was cloudy, with occasional
rain, we declined it. This operation, though violent, seems highly
efficacious; for our own man, on whom the experiment was first made, is
recovering his strength very fast, and the restoration of the chief is
wonderful. He continued to improve, and on the following day,
Friday 30, after a very violent sweating, was able to move one of his
legs and thighs, and some of his toes; the fingers and arms being
almost entirely restored to their former strength. Parties were sent
out as usual to hunt and trade with the Indians. Among others, two
of the men who had not yet exchanged their stock of merchandise for
roots, crossed the river for that purpose, in our boat. But as they
reached the opposite shore, the violence of the current drove the boat
broadside against some trees, and she immediately filled and went to
the bottom. With difficulty one of the men was saved, but the boat
itself, with three blankets, a blanket-coat, and their small pittance
of merchandise, were irrevocably lost.
Saturday, 31. Two men visited the Indian village, where they purchased
a dressed bear skin, of a uniform pale reddish brown colour, which the
Indians called yackah in contradistinction to hohhost, or the white
bear. This remark induced us to inquire more particularly into their
opinions as to the several species of bears; and we therefore produced
all the skins of that animal which we had killed at this place, and
also one very nearly white, which we had purchased. The natives
immediately classed the white, the deep and the pale grizly red, the
grizly dark brown, in short, all those with the extremities of the hair
of a white or frosty colour, without regard to the colour of the ground
of the foil, under the name of hohhost. They assured us, that they
were all of the same species with the white bear; that they associated
together, had longer nails than the others, and never climbed trees.
On the other hand, the black skins, those which were black, with a
number of entire white hairs intermixed, or with a white breast, the
uniform bay, the brown, and light reddish brown, were ranged under the
class yackkah, and were said to resemble each other in being smaller,
and having shorter nails than the white bear, in climbing trees,
and being so little vicious that they could be pursued with safety.
This distinction of the Indians seems to be well founded, and we are
inclined to believe,
First, That the white or grizly bear of this neighbourhood form a
distinct species, which moreover is the same with those of the same
colour on the upper part of the Missouri, where the other species are
not found.
Second, That the black and reddish brown, &c. is a second species,
equally distinct from the white bear of this country, as from the
black bear of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which two last seem to
form only one species. The common black bear are indeed unknown in
this country; for the bear of which we are speaking, though in most
respects similar, differs from it in having much finer, thicker, and
longer hair, with a greater proportion of fur mixed with it, and also
in having a variety of colours, while the common black bear has no
intermixture or change of colour, but is of a uniform black.
In the course of the day the natives brought us another of our original
stock of horses, of which we have now recovered all except two, and
those, we are informed, were taken back by our Shoshonee guide, when he
returned home. They amount to sixty-five, and most of them fine strong
active horses, in excellent order.
Sunday, June 1. Two of our men who had been up the river to trade
with the Indians, returned quite unsuccessful. Nearly opposite to the
village, their horse fell with his load, down a steep cliff, into the
river, across which he swam. An Indian on the opposite side, drove
him back to them, but in crossing most of the articles were lost,
and the paint melted. Understanding their intentions, the Indians
attempted to come over to them, but having no canoe, were obliged to
use a raft, which struck on a rock, upset, and the whole score of roots
and bread were destroyed. This failure completely exhausted our stock
of merchandise; but the remembrance of what we suffered from cold and
hunger during the passage of the Rocky mountains, makes us anxious to
increase our means of subsistence and comfort when we again encounter
the same inconvenience. We therefore created a new fund, by cutting off
the buttons from our clothes, preparing some eye-water, and basilicon,
to which were added some phials, and small tin boxes, in which we had
once kept phosphorus. With this cargo two men set out in the morning,
Monday 2, to trade, and brought home three bushels of roots and some
bread, which, in our situation, was as important as the return of an
East India ship. In the meantime, several hunters went across Collins’s
creek to hunt on the Quamash grounds, and the Indians informed us that
there were great quantities of moose to the southeast of the east
branch of Lewis’s river, which they call the Tommanamah. We had lately
heard that some Indians who reside at some distance, on the south side
of the Kooskooskee, are in possession of two tomahawks, one of which
was left at our camp at Musquitoe creek, the other had been stolen
while we were encamped at the Chopunnish last autumn. This last we were
anxious to obtain, in order to give to the relations of our unfortunate
companion, serjeant Floyd, to whom it once belonged. We therefore sent
Drewyer yesterday with Neeshnepahkeeook and Hohastilpilp, the two
chiefs, to demand it. On their arrival, it seemed that the present
owner, who had purchased it from the thief, was himself at the point
of death; so that his relations were unwilling to give it up, as they
meant to bury it in the grave with the deceased. But the influence of
Neeshnepahkeeook at length succeeded; and they consented to surrender
the tomahawk on receiving two strands of beads and a handkerchief,
from Drewyer, and from each of the chiefs a horse, to be killed at the
funeral of the deceased, according to the custom of the country.
Soon after their return, serjeant Ordway and his party, for whose
safety we had now become extremely anxious, came home from Lewis’s
river, with some roots of cows and seventeen salmon. The distance,
however, from which they were brought, was so great, that most of
them were nearly spoiled; but such as continued sound, were extremely
delicious, the flesh being of a fine rose colour, with a small mixture
of yellow, and so fat that they were cooked very well without the
addition of any oil or grease.
When they set out on the 27th, they had hoped to reach the salmon
fishery in the course of that day, but the route by which the guides
led them was so circuitous, that they rode seventy miles before they
reached their place of destination, in the evening of the twenty-ninth.
After going for twenty miles up the Commearp creek, through an open
plain, broken only by the hills and timber along the creek, they then
entered a high, irregular, mountainous country, the soil of which
was fertile, and well supplied with pine. Without stopping to hunt,
although they saw great quantities of deer, and some of the bighorn,
they hastened for thirty miles across this district to the Tommanamah,
or east branch of Lewis’s river; and not finding any salmon, descended
that stream for twenty miles, to the fishery at a short distance below
its junction with the south branch. Both these forks appear to come
from or enter a mountainous country. The Tommanamah itself, they said,
was about one hundred and fifty yards wide; its banks, for the most
part, formed of solid perpendicular rocks, rising to a great height,
and as they passed along some of its hills, they found that the snow
had not yet disappeared, and the grass was just springing up. During
its whole course it presented one continued rapid, till at the fishery
itself, where the river widens to the space of two hundred yards, the
rapid is nearly as considerable as at the great rapids of the Columbia.
Here the Indians have erected a large house of split timber, one
hundred and fifty feet long, and thirty-five wide, with a flat roof;
and at this season is much resorted to by the men, while the women are
employed in collecting roots. After remaining a day, and purchasing
some fish, they returned home.
Tuesday, 3. Finding that the salmon has not yet appeared along the
shores, as the Indians assured us they would in a few days, and that
all the salmon which they themselves use, are obtained from Lewis’s
river, we begin to lose our hopes of subsisting on them. We are too
poor, and at too great a distance from Lewis’s river, to purchase
fish at that place, and it is not probable that the river will fall
sufficiently to take them before we leave this place. Our Indian
friends sent an express to-day over the mountains to Traveller’s-rest,
in order to procure intelligence from the Ootlashoots, a band of
Flatheads who have wintered on the east side of the mountains, and
the same band which we first met on that river. As the route was
deemed practicable for this express, we also proposed setting out, but
the Indians dissuaded us from attempting it, as many of the creeks,
they said, were still too deep to be forded; the roads very deep and
slippery, and no grass as yet for our horses; but in twelve or fourteen
days we shall no longer meet with the same obstacles: we therefore
determined to set out in a few days for the Quamash flats, in order to
lay in a store of provisions, so as to cross the mountains about the
middle of the month.
For the two following days we continued hunting in our own
neighbourhood, and by means of our own exertions, and trading with the
Indians for trifling articles, succeeded in procuring as much bread
and roots, besides other food, as will enable us to subsist during the
passage of the mountains. The old chief in the meantime gradually
recovered the use of his limbs, and our own man was nearly restored to
his former health. The Indians who had been with us, now returned, and
invited us to their village on the following day,
Friday, June 6, to give us their final answer to a number of proposals
which we had made to them. Neeshnepahkeeook then informed us, that
they could not accompany us, as we wished, to the Missouri; but that
in the latter end of the summer they meant to cross the mountain and
spend the winter to the eastward. We had also requested some of their
young men to go with us, so as to effect a reconciliation between them
and the Pahkees, in case we should meet these last. He answered, that
some of their young men would go with us, but they were not selected
for that purpose, nor could they be until a general meeting of the
whole nation, who were to meet in the plain on Lewis’s river, at the
head of Commearp. This meeting would take place in ten of twelve days,
and if we set out before that time, the young men should follow us. We
therefore depend but little on their assistance as guides, but hope to
engage for that purpose, some of the Ootlashoots near Traveller’s-rest
creek. Soon after this communication, which was followed by a present
of dried quamash, we were visited by Hohastilpilp and several others,
among whom were the two young chiefs who had given us horses some time
ago.