CHAPTER XIX.

The party return in safety to St. Louis.

Sunday, August 31. We examined our arms, and proceeded with the wind

in our favour. For some time we saw several Indians on the hills, but

soon lost sight of them. In passing the dome, and the first village of

barking squirrels, we stopped and killed two fox squirrels, an animal

which we have not seen on the river higher than this place. At night

we encamped on the northeast side, after a journey of seventy miles.

We had seen no game, as usual, on the river; but in the evening the

musquetoes soon discovered us.

Monday, September 1. We set out early, but were shortly compelled to

put to shore, for half an hour, till a thick fog disappeared. At nine

o’clock we passed the entrance of the Quicurre, which presents the same

appearance as when we ascended, the water rapid and of a milky-white

colour. Two miles below several Indians ran down to the bank, and

beckoned to us to land; but as they appeared to be Tetons, and of a war

party, we paid no attention to them, except to inquire to what tribe

they belonged; but as the Sioux interpreter did not understand much of

the language, they probably mistook his question. As one of our canoes

was behind, we were afraid of an attack on the men, and therefore

landed on an open commanding situation, out of the view of the Indians,

in order to wait for them. We had not been in this position fifteen

minutes, when we heard several guns, which we immediately concluded

were fired at the three hunters; and being now determined to protect

them against any number of Indians, captain Clarke with fifteen men

ran up the river, whilst captain Lewis hobbled up the bank, and formed

the rest of the party in such a manner as would best enable them to

protect the boats. On turning a point of the river, captain Clarke was

agreeably surprised at seeing the Indians remaining in the place where

we left them, and our canoe at the distance of a mile. He now went on

a sandbar, and when the Indians crossed, gave them his hand, and was

informed that they had been amusing themselves with shooting at an old

keg, which we had thrown into the river, and was floating down. We now

found them to be part of a band of eighty lodges of Yanktons, on Plum

creek, and therefore invited them down to the camp, and after smoking

several pipes, told them that we had mistaken them for Tetons, and

had intended putting every one of them to death, if they fired at our

canoe; but finding them Yanktons, who were good men, we were glad to

take them by the hand as faithful children, who had opened their ears

to our counsels. They saluted the Mandan with great cordiality, and one

of them declared that their ears had indeed been opened, and that they

had followed our advice since we gave a medal to their great chief, and

should continue to do so. We now tied a piece of riband to the hair

of each Indian, and gave them some corn. We made a present of a pair

of leggings to the principal chief, and then took our leave, being

previously overtaken by our canoe. At two o’clock we landed to hunt

on Bonhomme island, but obtained a single elk only. The bottom on the

northeast side is very rich, and so thickly overgrown with pea-vines

and grass, interwoven with grape-vines, that some of the party who

attempted to hunt there, were obliged to leave it and ascend the plain,

where they found the grass nearly as high as their heads. These plains

are much richer below than above the Quicurre, and the whole country

is now very beautiful. After making fifty-two miles against a head

wind, we stopped for the night on a sandbar, opposite to the Calumet

bluff, where we had encamped on the first of September, 1804, and

where our flag-staff was still standing. We suffered very much from the

musquetoes, till the wind became so high as to blow them all away.

Tuesday, 2. At eight o’clock we passed the river Jacques, but soon

after were compelled to land, in consequence of the high wind from the

northeast, and remain till sunset: after which we went on to a sandbar

twenty-two miles from our camp of last evening. Whilst we were on shore

we killed three buffaloes, and four prairie fowls, which are the first

we have seen in descending. Two turkies were also killed, and were very

much admired by the Indians, who had never seen that animal before. The

plains continue level and fertile, and in the low grounds there is much

white oak, and some white ash in the ravines and high bottoms, with

lyn and slippery elm occasionally. During the night the wind shifted

to the southwest and blew the sand over us in such a manner, that our

situation was very unpleasant. It lulled, however, towards daylight,

and we then,

Wednesday, 3, proceeded. At eleven o’clock we passed the Redstone. The

river is now crowded with sandbars, which are very differently situated

now from what they were when we ascended. But notwithstanding these

and the head wind, we made sixty miles before night, when we saw two

boats and several men on shore. We landed, and found a Mr. James Airs,

a partner of a house at Prairie de Chien, who had come from Mackinau

by the way of Prairie de Chien and St. Louis with a license to trade

among the Sioux for one year. He had brought two canoes loaded with

merchandise, but lost many of his most useful articles in a squall some

time since. After so long an interval, the sight of any one who could

give us information of our country, was peculiarly delightful, and

much of the night was spent in making inquiries into what had occurred

during our absence. We found Mr. Airs a very friendly and liberal

gentleman, and when we proposed to him to purchase a small quantity of

tobacco, to be paid for in St. Louis, he very readily furnished every

man of the party with as much as he could use during the rest of the

voyage, and insisted on our accepting a barrel of flour. This last we

found very agreeable, although we have still a little flour which we

had deposited at the mouth of Maria’s river. We could give in return

only about six bushels of corn, which was all that we could spare. The

next morning,

Thursday, 4, we left Mr. Airs about eight o’clock, and after passing

the Big Sioux river, stopped at noon near Floyd’s bluff. On ascending

the hill we found that the grave of Floyd had been opened, and was now

half uncovered. We filled it up, and then continued down to our old

camp near the Maha village, where all our baggage, which had been wet

by the rain of last night, was exposed to dry. There is no game on

the river except wild geese and pelicans. Near Floyd’s grave are some

flourishing black walnut trees, which are the first we have seen on our

return. At night we heard the report of several guns in a direction

towards the Maha village, and supposed it to be the signal of the

arrival of some trader. But not meeting him when we set out, the next

morning,

Friday, 5, we concluded that the firing was merely to announce the

return of the Mahas to the village, this being the season at which they

return home from buffaloe hunting, to take care of their corn, beans

and pumpkins. The river is now more crooked, the current more rapid,

and crowded with snags and sawyers, and the bottoms on both sides well

supplied with timber. At three o’clock we passed the Bluestone bluff,

where the river leaves the highlands and meanders through a low rich

bottom, and at night encamped, after making seventy-three miles.

Saturday, 6. The wind continued ahead, but the musquetoes was so

tormenting that to remain was more unpleasant than even to advance,

however slowly, and we therefore proceeded. Near the Little Sioux

river we met a trading boat belonging to Mr. Augustus Chateau, of St.

Louis, with several men on their way to trade with the Yanktons at the

river Jacques. We obtained from them a gallon of whiskey, and gave

each of the party a dram, which is the first spirituous liquor any of

them have tasted since the fourth of July 1805. After remaining with

them for some time we went on to a sandbar, thirty miles from our last

encampment, where we passed the night in expectation of being joined

by two of the hunters. But as they did not come on, we set out next

morning,

Sunday, 7, leaving a canoe with five men, to wait for them, but had not

gone more than eight miles, when we overtook them; we therefore fired a

gun, which was a signal for the men behind, which, as the distance in

a direct line was about a mile, they readily heard and soon joined us.

A little above the Soldier’s river we stopped to dine on elk, of which

we killed three, and at night, after making forty-four miles, encamped

on a sandbar, where we hoped in vain to escape from the musquetoes. We

therefore set out early the next morning,

Monday, 8, and stopped for a short time at the Council bluffs, to

examine the situation of the place, and were confirmed in our belief

that it would be a very eligible spot for a trading establishment.

Being anxious to reach the Platte, we plied our oars so well, that by

night we had made seventy-eight miles, and landed at our old encampment

at Whitecatfish camp, twelve miles above that river. We had here

occasion to remark the wonderful evaporation from the Missouri, which

does not appear to contain more water, nor is its channel wider than

at the distance of one thousand miles nearer its source, although

within that space it receives about twenty rivers, some of them of

considerable width, and a great number of creeks. This evaporation

seems, in fact, to be greater now than when we ascended the river, for

we are obliged to replenish the inkstand every day with fresh ink, nine

tenths of which must escape by evaporation.

Tuesday, 9. By eight o’clock we passed the river Platte, which is

lower than it was, and its waters almost clear, though the channel

is turbulent as usual. The sandbars which obstructed the Missouri

are, however, washed away, and nothing is to be seen except a few

remains of the bar. Below the Platte, the current of the Missouri

becomes evidently more rapid, and the obstructions from fallen timber

increased. The river bottoms are extensive, rich, and covered with

tall, large timber, which is still more abundant in the hollows of

the ravines, where may be seen, oak, ash, elm, interspersed with some

walnut and hickory. The musquetoes also, though still numerous, seem

to lose some of their vigour. As we advance so rapidly, the change

of climate is very perceptible, the air is more sultry than we have

experienced for a long time before, and the nights so warm that a

thin blanket is now sufficient, although a few days ago two were not

burdensome. Late in the afternoon we encamped opposite to the Baldpated

prairie, after a journey of seventy-three miles.

Wednesday, 10. We again set out early and the wind being moderate,

though still ahead, we came sixty-five miles to a sandbar, a short

distance above the grand Nemaha. In the course of the day we met a

trader, with three men, on his way to the Pawnee Loups or Wolf Pawnees,

on the Platte. Soon after another boat passed us with seven men from

St. Louis, bound to the Mahas. With both of these trading parties we

had some conversation, but our anxiety to go on would not suffer us to

remain long with them. The Indians, and particularly the squaws and

children are weary of the long journey, and we are not less desirous of

seeing our country and friends. We saw on the shore, deer, rackoons,

and turkies.

Thursday, 11. A high wind from the northwest detained us till after

sunrise, when we proceeded slowly; for as the river is rapid and

narrow, as well as more crowded with sandbars and timber than above,

much caution is necessary in avoiding these obstacles, particularly

in the present low state of the water. The Nemaha seems less wide than

when we saw it before, and Wolf river has scarcely any water. In the

afternoon we halted above the Nadowa to hunt, and killed two deer;

after which we went on to a small island, forty miles from our last

night’s encampment. Here we were no longer annoyed by musquetoes, which

do not seem to frequent this part of the river; and after having been

persecuted with these insects during the whole route from the falls,

it is a most agreeable exemption. Their noise was very agreeably

changed for that of the common wolves, which were howling in different

directions, and the prairie wolves, whose barking resembles precisely

that of the common cur dog.

Friday, 12. After a thick fog and a heavy dew we set out by sunrise,

and at the distance of seven miles met two periogues, one of them

bound to the Platte, for the purpose of trading with the Pawnees, the

other on a trapping expedition to the neighbourhood of the Mahas.

Soon after we met the trading party under Mr. McClellan; and with

them was Mr. Gravelines, the interpreter, whom we had sent with a

Ricara chief to the United States. The chief had unfortunately died at

Washington, and Gravelines was now on his way to the Ricaras, with a

speech from the president, and the presents which had been made to the

chief. He had also directions to instruct the Ricaras in agriculture.

He was accompanied on this mission by old Mr. Durion, our former

Sioux interpreter, whose object was to procure, by his influence, a

safe passage for the Ricara presents through the bands of Sioux, and

also to engage some of the Sioux chiefs, not exceeding six, to visit

Washington. Both of them were instructed to inquire particularly after

the fate of our party, no intelligence having been received from us

during a long time. We authorised Mr. Durion to invite ten or twelve

Sioux chiefs to accompany him, particularly the Yanktons, whom we

had found well disposed towards our country. The afternoon being

wet, we determined to remain with Mr. McClellan during the night; and

therefore, after sending on five hunters ahead, spent the evening in

inquiries after occurrences in the United States during our absence;

and by eight o’clock next morning,

Saturday, 13, overtook the hunters; but they had killed nothing. The

wind being now too high to proceed safely through timber stuck in every

part of the channel, we landed, and sent the small canoes ahead to

hunt. Towards evening we overtook them, and encamped, not being able to

advance more than eighteen miles. The weather was very warm, and the

rushes in the bottoms so high and thick that we could scarcely hunt,

but were fortunate enough to obtain four deer and a turkey, which,

with the hooting owl, the common buzzard, crow, and hawk, were the

only game we saw. Among the timber is the cottonwood, sycamore, ash,

mulberry, pappaw, walnut, hickory, prickly ash, several species of elm,

intermixed with great quantities of grape-vines, and three kinds of

peas.

Sunday, 14. We resumed our journey, and this being a part of the river

to which the Kanzas resort, in order to rob the boats of traders, we

held ourselves in readiness to fire upon any Indians who should offer

us the slightest indignity, as we no longer needed their friendship,

and found that a tone of firmness and decision is the best possible

method of making proper impression on these freebooters. We, however,

did not encounter any of them; but just below the old Kanzas village

met three trading boats from St. Louis, on their way to the Yanktons

and Mahas. After leaving them we saw a number of deer, of which we

killed five, and encamped on an island, fifty-three miles from our

encampment of last evening.

Monday, 15. A strong breeze ahead prevented us from advancing more than

forty-nine miles to the neighbourhood of Haycabin creek. The river

Kanzas is very low at this time. About a mile below it we landed to

view the situation of a high hill, which has many advantages for a

trading house or fort; while on the shore we gathered great quantities

of pappaws, and shot an elk. The low grounds are now delightful, and

the whole country exhibits a rich appearance; but the weather is

oppressively warm, and descending as rapidly as we do from a cool open

country, between the latitude of 46 and 49°, in which we have been for

nearly two years, to the wooded plains in 38 and 39° the heat would be

almost insufferable were it not for the constant winds from the south

and southeast.

Tuesday, 16. We set out at an early hour, but the weather soon became

so warm that the men rowed but little. In the course of the day we met

two trading parties, on their way to the Pawnees and Mahas, and after

making fifty-two miles, remained on an island till next morning,

Wednesday, 17, when we passed in safety the island of the Little Osage

village. This place is considered by the navigators of the Missouri,

as the most dangerous part of it, the whole water being compressed,

for two miles, within a narrow channel, crowded with timber, into

which the violence of the current is constantly washing the banks.

At the distance of thirty miles we met a captain McClellan, lately

of the United States’ army, with whom we encamped. He informed us

that the general opinion in the United States was that we were lost;

the last accounts which had been heard of us being from the Mandan

villages. Captain McClellan is on his way to attempt a new trade with

the Indians. His plan is to establish himself on the Platte, and after

trading with the Pawnees and Ottoes, prevail on some of their chiefs

to accompany him to Santa Fee, where he hopes to obtain permission

to exchange his merchandise for gold and silver, which is there in

abundance. If this be granted, he can transport his goods on mules

and horses from the Platte to some part of Louisiana, convenient to

the Spanish settlements, where he may be met by the traders from New

Mexico.

Thursday, 18. We parted with captain McClellan, and within a few

miles passed the Grand river, below which we overtook the hunters,

who had been sent forward yesterday afternoon. They had not been able

to kill any thing, nor did we see any game except one bear and three

turkies, so that our whole stock of provisions is one biscuit for each

person; but as there is an abundance of pappaws, the men are perfectly

contented. The current of the river is more gentle than it was when

we ascended, the water being lower though still rapid in places where

it is confined. We continued to pass through a very fine country, for

fifty-two miles, when we encamped nearly opposite to Mine river. The

next morning,

Friday, 19, we worked our oars all day, without taking time to hunt,

or even landing, except once to gather pappaws; and at eight o’clock

reached the entrance of the Osage river, a distance of seventy-two

miles. Several of the party have been for a day or two attacked with a

soreness in the eyes; the eye-ball being very much swelled and the lid

appearing as if burnt by the sun, and extremely painful, particularly

when exposed to the light. Three of the men are so much affected by it,

as to be unable to row. We therefore turned one of the boats adrift,

and distributed the men among the other canoes, when we set out a

little before day-break,

Saturday, 20. The Osage is at this time low, and discharges but a very

small quantity of water. Near the mouth of Gasconade, where we arrived

at noon, we met five Frenchmen on their way to the Great Osage village.

As we moved along rapidly, we saw on the banks some cows feeding, and

the whole party almost involuntarily raised a shout of joy at seeing

this image of civilization and domestic life.

Soon after we reached the little French village of Lacharette, which we

saluted with a discharge of four guns, and three hearty cheers. We then

landed, and were received with kindness by the inhabitants, as well as

some traders from Canada, who were going to traffic with the Osages and

Ottoes. They were all equally surprised and pleased at our arrival, for

they had long since abandoned all hopes of ever seeing us return.

These Canadians have boats prepared for the navigation of the Missouri,

which seem better calculated for the purpose than those in any other

form. They are in the shape of batteaux, about thirty feet long, and

eight wide; the bow and stern pointed, the bottom flat, and carrying

six oars only, and their chief advantage is their width and flatness,

which saves them from the danger of rolling sands.

Having come sixty-eight miles, and the weather threatening to be bad,

we remained at La Charette till the next morning,

Sunday, 21, when we proceeded, and as several settlements have been

made during our absence, were refreshed with the sight of men and

cattle along the banks. We also passed twelve canoes of Kickapoo

Indians, going on a hunting excursion. At length, after coming

forty-eight miles, we saluted, with heartfelt satisfaction, the

village of St. Charles, and on landing were treated with the greatest

hospitality and kindness by all the inhabitants of that place. Their

civility detained us till ten o’clock the next morning,

Monday, 22, when the rain having ceased, we set out for Coldwater

creek, about three miles from the mouth of the Missouri, where we found

a cantonment of troops of the United States, with whom we passed the

day, and then,

Tuesday, 23, descended to the Mississippi, and round to St. Louis,

where we arrived at twelve o’clock, and having fired a salute went on

shore and received the heartiest and most hospitable welcome from the

whole village.

APPENDIX.

_Observations and reflections on the present and future state

of Upper Louisiana, in relation to the government of the Indian

nations inhabiting that country, and the trade and intercourse

with the same. By captain Lewis._

With a view to a more complete development of this subject, I have

deemed it expedient in the outset, to state the leading measures

pursued by the provincial government of Spain, in relation to this

subject; the evils which flowed from those measures, as well to the

Indians as to the whites, in order that we may profit by their errors,

and be ourselves the better enabled to apply the necessary correctives

to the remnant of evils which their practice introduced.

From the commencement of the Spanish provincial government in

Louisiana, whether by the permission of the crown, or originating in

the pecuniary rapacity of their governors general, this officer assumed

to himself exclusively the right of trading with all the Indian nations

in Louisiana; and therefore proceeded to dispose of this privilege to

individuals, for certain specific sums; his example was imitated by

the governors of Upper Louisiana, who made a further exaction. Those

exclusive permissions to individuals varied as to the extent of country

or nations they embraced, and the period for which granted; but in all

cases the exclusive licenses were offered to the highest bidder, and,

consequently, the sums paid by the individuals purchasing, were quite

as much as the profits of the trade would bear, and in many instances,

from a spirit of opposition between contending applicants, much more

was given than ever the profits of the traffic would justify. The

individual, of course, became bankrupt. This, however, was among the

least of the evils flowing from this system to the Indian; it produced

the evil of compelling him to pay such enormous sums for the articles

he purchased, that his greatest exertions would not enable him to

obtain as much as he had previously been in the habit of consuming,

and which he therefore conceived necessary to him; for as this system

progressed the demands of the governors became more exorbitant, and

the trader, to meet his engagements, exacted higher prices from the

Indians, though the game became scarcer in their country. The morals

of the Indian were corrupted by placing before him the articles which

he viewed as of the first necessity to him, at such prices, that he

had it not in his power to purchase; he was therefore induced, in

many instances, to take by force that which he had not the means of

paying for; consoling himself with the idea, that the trader was

compelled of necessity to possess himself of the peltries and furs, in

order to meet his engagements with those from whom he had purchased

his merchandise, as well as those who had assisted him in their

transportation. He consequently could not withdraw himself from their

trade, without inevitable ruin. The prevalence of this sentiment among

the Indians, was strongly impressed on my mind by an anecdote related

to me by a gentleman, who had for several years enjoyed, under the

Spanish government, the exclusive privilege of trading with the Little

Osages. It happened, that after he had bartered with them for all their

peltries and furs which they had on hand, that they seized forcibly

on a number of guns and a quantity of ammunition which he had still

remaining; he remonstrated with them against this act of violence,

and finally concluded by declaring that he would never return among

them again, nor would he suffer any person to bring them merchandise

thereafter. They heard him out very patiently, when one of their

leaders pertly asked him; if he did not return the next season to

obtain their peltries and furs, how he intended to pay the persons from

whom he had purchased the merchandise they had then taken from him?

The Indians believed that these traders were the most powerful persons

in the nation; nor did they doubt their ability to withhold merchandise

from them; but the great thirst displayed by the traders for the

possession of their peltries and furs, added to the belief that they

were compelled to continue their traffic, was considered by the Indians

a sufficient guarantee for the continuance of their intercourse, and

therefore felt themselves at liberty to practise aggressions on the

traders with impunity: thus they governed the trader by what they

conceived his necessities to possess their furs and peltries, rather

than governing themselves by their own anxiety to obtain merchandise,

as they may most effectually be by a well regulated system. It is

immaterial to the Indians how they obtain merchandise; in possession of

a supply they feel independent. The Indians found by a few experiments

of aggression on the traders, that as it respected themselves, it had

a salutary effect; and although they had mistaken the legitimate cause

of action on the part of the trader, the result being favourable to

themselves, they continued their practice. The fact is, that the trader

was compelled to continue his trade under every disadvantage, in order

to make good his engagements to the governors; for having secured their

protection, they were safe, both in person and property from their

other creditors, who were, for the most part, the merchants of Montreal.

The first effect of these depredations of the Indians, was the

introduction of a ruinous custom among the traders, of extending to

them a credit. The traders, who visited the Indians on the Missouri,

arrived at their wintering stations from the latter end of September

to the middle of October: here they carried on their traffic until

the latter end of March or beginning of April. In the course of the

season they had possessed themselves of every skin the Indians had

procured, of course there was an end of trade; but previous to their

return, the Indians insist upon a credit being given on the faith of

payment when he returned the next season. The trader understands his

situation, and knowing this credit was nothing less than the price of

his passport, or the privilege of departing in safety to his home, of

course narrowed down the amount of this credit, by concealing, as far

as he could, to avoid the suspicions of the Indians, the remnant of

his merchandise. But the amount to be offered must always be such as

they had been accustomed to receive; and which in every case, bore a

considerable proportion to their whole trade; say the full amount of

their summer or redskin hunt. The Indians well knew that the traders

were in their power, and the servile motives which induced them to

extend their liberality to them, and were therefore the less solicitous

to meet their engagements on the day of payment; to this indifference

they were further urged by the traders distributing among them, on

those occasions, many articles of the last necessity to them. The

consequence was, that when the traders returned the ensuing fall, if

they obtained only one half of their credits they were well satisfied,

as this covered their real expenditure.

Again, if it so happen, in the course of the winter’s traffic, that the

losses of the trader, growing out of the indolence of the Indians, and

their exorbitant exactions under the appellation of credit, should so

reduce his stock in trade that he could not pay the governor the price

stipulated for his license, and procure a further supply of goods in

order to prosecute his trade, the license was immediately granted to

some other individual, who, with an ample assortment of merchandise,

visits the place of rendezvous of his predecessor, without the

interpolation of a single season. It did not unfrequently happen, that

the individuals engaged in this commerce, finding one of their number

failing from the rapacity of the Indian nation, with which he had been

permitted to trade, were not so anxious to possess themselves of the

privilege of trading with that nation; the governor, of course, rather

than lose all advantages, would abate of his demands considerably. The

new trader thus relieved of a considerable proportion of the tax borne

by his predecessor, and being disposed to make a favourable impression

on the minds of the Indians, to whom he was about to introduce himself,

would, for the first season at least, dispose of his goods to those

Indians on more moderate terms than his predecessor had done. The

Indians now find that the aggressions they have practised on their

former trader, so far from proving detrimental to them, had procured

not only their exoneration from the payment of the last credit given

them by their former trader, but that the present trader furnished

them goods on better terms than they had been accustomed to receive

them. Thus encouraged by the effects of this rapacious policy, it

was not to be expected that they would alter their plan of operation

as it respected their new trader; or that they should appreciate

the character of the whites in general in any other manner, than as

expressed in a prevailing sentiment on this subject, now common among

several nations on the Missouri, to wit: “_that the white men are like

dogs, the more you beat them and plunder them, the more goods they

will bring you, and the cheaper they will sell them_.” This sentiment

constitutes, at present, the rule of action among the Kanzas, Sioux,

and others; and if it be not broken down by the adoption of some

efficient measures, it needs not the aid of any deep calculation to

determine the sum of advantages which will result to the American

people from the trade of the Missouri. These aggressions on the part of

the Indians, were encouraged by the pusillanimity of the engagees, who

declared that they were not engaged to fight.

The evils which flowed from this system of exclusive trade, were

sensibly felt by the inhabitants of Louisiana. The governor,

regardless of the safety of the community, sold to an individual the

right of vending among the Indians every species of merchandise; thus

bartering, in effect, his only efficient check on the Indians. The

trader, allured by the hope of gain, neither shackled with discretion,

nor consulting the public good, proceeded to supply the Indians, on

whom he was dependent, with arms, ammunition, and all other articles

they might require. The Indian, thus independent, acknowledging no

authority but his own, will proceed without compunction of conscience

or fear of punishment, to wage war on the defenceless inhabitants

of the frontier, whose lives and property, in many instances, were

thus sacrificed at the shrine of an _inordinate thirst for wealth_ in

their governors, which in reality occasioned all those evils. Although

the governors could not have been ignorant that the misfortunes of

the people were caused by the independence of the Indians, to which

they were accessory, still they were the more unwilling to apply the

corrective; because the very system which gave them wealth in the

outset, in the course of its progress, afforded them many plausible

pretexts to put their hands into the treasury of the king their

master. For example; the Indians attack the frontier, kill some of

the inhabitants, plunder many others, and agreeably to their custom

of warfare, retire instantly to their villages with their booty.

The governor informed of this transaction, promptly calls on the

inhabitants to aid and assist in repelling the invasion. Accordingly a

party assemble under their officers, some three or four days after the

mischief had been done, and the Indians, one hundred, or one hundred

and fifty miles from them, they pursue them, as they usually did, at

no rapid pace, three or four days, and returned without overtaking the

enemy, as they might have well known before they set out. On their

return the men were dismissed, but ordered to hold themselves in

readiness at a moment’s warning. When at the end of some two or three

months, the governor chose to consider the danger blown over, he

causes receipts to be made out for the full pay of two or three months

service, to which the signatures of the individuals are affixed; but

as those persons were only absent from their homes ten or twelve days,

all that was really paid them, did not amount to more than one fourth

or one fifth of what they receipted for, and the balance of course was

taken by the governor, as the reward for his faithful guardianship of

the lives and property of his majesty’s subjects.

The Spaniards holding the entrance of the Missouri, could regulate

as they thought proper the intercourse with the Indians through that

channel; but from what has been said, it will be readily perceived,

that their traders, shackled with the pecuniary impositions of their

governors, could never become the successful rivals of the British

merchants on the west side of the Mississippi, which, from its

proximity to the United States, the latter could enter without the

necessity of a Spanish passport, or the fear of being detected by them.

The consequence was that the trade of the rivers Demoin, St. Peter’s,

and all the country west of the Mississippi nearly to the Missouri, was

exclusively enjoyed by the British merchants. The Spanish governors,

stimulated by their own sordid views, declared that the honour of his

majesty was grossly compromitted by the liberty that those adventurers

took in trading with the natives within his territory, without their

permission, and therefore took the liberty of expending his majesty’s

money by equipping and manning several galleys to cruise in the

channels of the Mississippi in order to intercept those traders of

the St. Peter’s and Demoin rivers, in their passage to and from the

entrance of the Oisconsing river; but after several unsuccessful

cruises, and finding the Indians so hostile to them in this quarter,

that they dare not land nor remain long in the channel without being

attacked, they therefore retired and gave over the project. The

Indians were friendly to the British merchants, and unfriendly to

the Spanish, for the plain reason that the former sold them goods

at a lower rate. The Ayaways, Sacks, Foxes and Yanktons of the river

Demoin, who occasionally visited the Missouri, had it in their power

to compare the rates at which the Spanish merchant in that quarter,

and the British merchant on the Mississippi sold their goods; this was

always much in favour of the latter; it therefore availed the Spaniard

but little, when they inculcated the doctrine of their being their

only legitimate fathers and friends, and that the British merchants

were mere intruders, and had no other object in view but their own

aggrandizement. The Indians, deaf to this doctrine, estimated the

friendship of both by the rates at which they respectively sold their

merchandise; and of course remained the firm friends of the British. In

this situation it is not difficult for those to conceive who have felt

the force of their machinations, that the British merchants would, in

order to extend their own trade, endeavour to break down that of their

neighbours on the Missouri. The attachments of the Indians to them,

afforded a formidable weapon with which to effect their purposes, nor

did they suffer it to remain unemployed.

The merchants of the Dog prairie, rivers Demoin and Ayaway, stimulated

the nations just mentioned to the commission of acts of rapacity

on the merchants of the Missouri, nor was Mr. Cameron and others,

merchants of the river St. Peter’s, less active with respect to the

Cissitons, Yanktons of the plains, Tetons, &c. who resort the Missouri

occasionally still higher up. War parties of those nations were

consequently found lying in wait on the Missouri, to intercept the

boats of the merchants of that river at the seasons they were expected

to pass, and depredations were frequently committed, particularly by

the Ayaways, who have been known in several instances to capture boats

on the Missouri, in their descent to St. Louis, and compelled the

crews to load themselves with heavy burdens of their best furs across

the country to towns, where they disposed of them to the British

merchants. In those cases they always destroyed the periogues, and

such of the peltries and furs as they could not carry off. It may be

urged, that the British merchants knowing that the United States, at

present, through mere courtesy, permit them to extend their trade to

the west side of the Mississippi; or rather that they are mere tenants

at will, and that the United States possess the means of ejecting them

at pleasure; that they will, under these circumstances, be induced to

act differently towards us than they did in relation to the Spanish

government; but what assurance have we that this will be the effect of

the mere change of governments without change of measures in relation

to them. Suffer me to ask what solid grounds there are to hope that

their gratitude for our tolerance and liberality on this subject, will

induce them to hold a different policy towards us. None, in my opinion,

unless we stimulate their gratitude by placing before their eyes the

instruments of our power in the form of one or two garrisons on the

upper part of the Mississippi. Even admit that the people were actuated

by the most friendly regard towards the interests of the United States,

and at this moment made a common cause with us to induce the Indians

to demean themselves in an orderly manner towards our government, and

to treat our traders of the Missouri with respect and friendship, yet,

without some efficient check on the Indians, I should not think our

citizens nor our traders secure; because the Indians, who have for

ten years and upwards, derived advantages from practice on lessons of

rapacity taught them by those traders, cannot at a moment be brought

back to a state of primitive innocence, by the united persuasions of

all the British traders. I hold it an axiom, incontrovertible, _that

it is more easy to introduce vice into all states of society than it

is to eradicate it_; and that this is still more strictly true, when

applied to man in savage than in his civilized state. If, therefore, we

wish, within some short period, to devest ourselves of the evils which

flowed from the inculcation of those doctrines of vice, we must employ

some more active agent than the influence of the same teachers who

first introduced them. Such an agent, in my opinion, is the power of

withholding their merchandise from them at pleasure; and to accomplish

this, we must first provide the means of controlling the merchants.

If we permit the British merchants to supply the Indians in Louisiana

as formerly, the influence of our government over those Indians is

lost. For the Indian in possession of his merchandise, feels himself

independent of every government, and will proceed to commit the same

depredations which they did when rendered independent by the Spanish

system.

The traders give themselves but little trouble at any time to inculcate

among the Indians a respect for governments; but are usually content

with proclaiming their own importance. When the British merchants give

themselves trouble to speak of governments, it is but fair to presume

that they will teach the natives to respect the power of their own. And

at all events, we know from experience that no regard for the blood of

our frontier inhabitants will influence them at any time to withhold

arms and ammunition from the Indians, provided they are to profit by

furnishing them.

Having now stated, as they have occurred to my mind, the several evils

which flowed from that system of intercourse with the Indians, pursued

by the Spanish government, I shall next endeavour to point out the

defects of our own, and show its incompetency to produce the wished

for reform; then, with some remarks on the Indian character, conclude

by submitting for the consideration of our government, the outlines of

a plan which has been dictated as well by a sentiment of philanthropy

toward the aborigines of America, as a just regard to the protection

of the lives and property of our citizens; and with the further view

also of securing to the people of the United States, exclusively, the

advantages which ought of right to accrue to them from the possession

of Louisiana.

We now permit the British merchants of Canada, indiscriminately with

our own, to enter the Missouri, and trade with the nations in that

quarter. Although the government of the U. States has not yielded

the point that, as a matter of right, the British merchants have the

privilege of trading in this quarter; yet from what has been said to

them, they are now acting under a belief, that it will be some time

before any prohibitory measures will be taken with respect to them;

and are therefore making rapid strides to secure themselves in the

affection of the Indians, and to break down, as soon as possible, the

American adventurers, by underselling them, and thus monopolize that

trade: this they will effect to an absolute certainty in the course of

a few years. The old Northwest company of Canada have, within the last

two years, formed a union with the Newyork company, who had previously

been the only important rivals in the fur trade; this company, with

the great accession of capital brought them by the Newyork company,

have, with a view to the particular monopoly of the Missouri, formed a

connexion with a British house in Newyork, another at New Orleans, and

have sent their particular agent, by the name of Jacob Mires, to take

his station at St. Louis. It may be readily conceived that the union

of the Northwest and Newyork companies, who had previously extended

their trade in opposition to each other, and to the exclusion of all

unassociated merchants on the upper portion of the Mississippi, the

waters of lake Winnipec and the Athebaskey country, would, after their

late union, have a surplus of capital and a surplus of men, which they

could readily employ in some other quarter: such was the Missouri,

which, from the lenity of our government, they saw was opened to them;

and I do believe, could the fact be ascertained, that the hope of

future gain from the fur trade of that river, was one of the principal

causes of the union between those two great rivals in the fur trade of

North America. That this trade will be nurtured and protected by the

British government, I have no doubt, for many reasons, which it strikes

me could be offered, but which, not failing immediately within the

purview of these observations on the fur trade of Louisiana, I shall

forbear to mention.

As the Missouri forms only one of four large branches of the commerce

of this united, or as it is still called, the Northwest company,

they will have it in their power, not only to break down all single

adventurers on the Missouri, but in the course of a few years to effect

the same thing with a company of merchants of the United States,

who might enter into a competition with them in this single branch

of their trade. Nor is it probable that our merchants, knowing this

fact, will form a company for the purpose of carrying on this trade,

while they see the Northwest company permitted by our government

to trade on the Missouri, and on the west side of the Mississippi:

therefore, the Northwest company, on the present plan, having driven

the adventurers of small capitals from these portions of our territory,

will most probably never afterwards have a rival in any company of our

own merchants. By their continuance they will acquire strength, and

having secured the wished-for monopoly, they will then trade with the

Indians on their own terms; and being possessed of the trade, both on

the Mississippi and Missouri, they can make the price of their goods

in both quarters similar, and though they may be excessively high, yet

being the same they will run no risk of disaffecting the Indians by a

comparison of the prices at which they receive their goods at those

places. If then it appears, that the longer we extend the privilege to

the Northwest company of continuing their trade within our territory,

the difficulty of excluding them will increase: can we begin the

work of exclusion too soon? For my own part I see not the necessity

to admit, that our own merchants are not at this moment competent to

supply the Indians of the Missouri with such quantities of goods as

will, at least in the acceptation of the Indians themselves, be deemed

satisfactory and sufficient for their necessities. All their ideas

relative to their necessities are only comparative, and may be tested

by a scale of the quantities they have been in the habit of receiving.

Such a scale I transmitted to the government from fort Mandan. From

a regard to the happiness of the Indians, it would give me much

pleasure to see this scale liberally increased; yet I am clearly of

opinion, that this effect should be caused by the regular progression

of the trade of our own merchants, under the patronage and protection

of our own government. This will afford additional security to the

tranquillity of our much extended frontier, while it will give wealth

to our merchants. We know that the change of government in Louisiana,

from Spain to that of the United States, has withdrawn no part of

that capital formerly employed in the trade of the Missouri; the same

persons still remain, and continue to prosecute their trade. To these

there has been an accession of several enterprising American merchants,

and several others since my return have signified their intention

to embark in that trade, within the present year; and the whole of

those merchants are now unembarrassed by the exactions of Spanish

governors. Under those circumstances is it fair for us to presume that

the Indians are not now supplied by our own merchants, with quite as

large an amount in merchandise as they had been formerly accustomed to

receive? Should the quantity thus supplied not fully meet our wishes on

liberal views, towards the Indians, is it not sounder policy to wait

the certain progress of our own trade, than in order to supply this

momentary deficiency, to admit the aid of the Northwest company, at the

expense of the total loss of that trade; thereby giving them a carte

blanch on which to write in future their own terms of traffic with the

Indians, and thus throwing them into their hands, permit them to be

formed into a rod of iron, with which, for Great Britain, to scourge

our frontier at pleasure.

If the British merchants were prohibited from trading in upper

Louisiana, the American merchants, with the aid of the profits arising

from the trade of the lower portion of the Missouri and the western

branches of the Mississippi, would be enabled most probably to become

the successful rivals of the Northwest company in the more distant

parts of the continent; to which we might look, in such case, with a

well-founded hope of enjoying great advantages from the fur trade; but

if this prohibition does not shortly take place, I will venture to

predict that no such attempts will ever be made, and, consequently,

that we shall for several generations be taxed with the defence of a

country, which to us would be no more than a barren waste.

About the beginning of August last, two of the wintering partners of

the Northwest company, visited the Mandan and Minnetaree villages on

the Missouri, and fixed on a scite for a fortified establishment. This

project once carried into effect, we have no right to hope for the

trade of the upper portion of the Missouri, until our government shall

think proper to dislodge them.

This season there has been sent up the Missouri, for the Indian trade,

more than treble the quantity of merchandise that has ever been

previously embarked in that trade at any one period. Of this quantity,

as far as I could judge from the best information I could collect,

two-thirds was the property of British merchants, and directly or

indirectly that of the Northwest company. Not any of this merchandise

was destined for a higher point on the Missouri than the mouth of the

Vermillion river, or the neighbourhood of the Yanktons of the river

Demoin; of course, there will be a greater excess of goods beyond what

the Indians can purchase, unless they sell at one-third their customary

price, which the American merchant certainly cannot do without

sacrificing his capital.

On my return this fall, I met on the Missouri an American merchant by

the name of Robert McClellan, formerly a distinguished partisan in

the army under general Wayne: in a conversation with this gentleman,

I learned that during the last winter, in his trade with the Mahas,

he had a competitor by the name of Joseph La Croix (believed to be

employed by the Northwest company, but now is an avowed British

merchant)--that the prices at which La Croix sold his goods, compelled

him to reduce the rates of his own goods so much as to cause him to

sink upwards of two thousand dollars of his capital, in the course of

his trade, that season; but that as he had embarked in this trade for

two years past, and had formed a favourable acquaintance with the Mahas

and others, he should still continue it a few seasons more, even at a

loss of his time and capital, in the hope that government seeing the

error would correct it, and that he might then regain his losses, from

the circumstance of his general acquaintance with the Indians.

I also met in my way to St. Louis, another merchant, by the same

name, a captain M’Clellan, formerly of the United States’ corps of

artillerists. This gentleman informed me that he was connected with one

of the principal houses in Baltimore, which I do not now recollect,

but can readily ascertain the name and standing of the firm, if it

is considered of any importance; he said he had brought with him a

small but well assorted adventure, calculated for the Indian trade,

by way of experiment; that the majority of his goods were of the fine

high-priced kind, calculated for the trade with the Spanish province

of New Mexico, which he intended to carry on within the territory of

the United States, near the border of that province; that connected

with this object, the house with which he was concerned was ready to

embark largely in the fur trade of the Missouri, provided it should

appear to him to offer advantages to them. That since he had arrived in

Louisiana, which was last autumn, he had endeavoured to inform himself

of the state of this trade, and that from his inquiries, he had been so

fully impressed with the disadvantages it laboured under from the free

admission of the British merchants, he had written to his house in

Baltimore, advising that they should not embark in this trade, unless

these merchants were prohibited from entering the river.

I have mentioned these two as cases in point, and which have fallen

immediately under my own observation: the first shows the disadvantages

under which the trade of our own merchants is now actually labouring;

and the second, that no other merchants will probably engage in this

trade, while the British fur traders are permitted by our government

to continue their traffic in Upper Louisiana. With this view of the

subject, it is submitted to the government, with whom it alone rests to

decide whether the admission or non-admission of those merchants is at

this moment most expedient.

The custom of giving credits to the Indians, which grew out of the

Spanish system, still exists, and agreeably to our present plan of

intercourse with these people, is likely to produce more pernicious

consequences than it did formerly. The Indians of the Missouri, who

have been in the habit of considering these credits rather as a

present, or the price of their permission for the trader to depart in

peace, still continue to view it in the same light, and will therefore

give up their expectations on that point with some reluctance; nor can

the merchants well refuse to acquiesce, while they are compelled to be

absent from the nations with which they trade five or six months in

the year. The Indians are yet too vicious to permit them in safety to

leave goods at their trading houses, during their absence, in the care

of one or two persons; the merchant, therefore, would rather suffer the

loss by giving the credit, than incur the expense of a competent guard,

or doubling the quantity of his engagees, for it requires as many men

to take the peltries and furs to market as it does to bring the goods

to the trading establishment, and the number usually employed are not

found at any time, more than sufficient to give a tolerable security

against the Indians.

I presume that it will not be denied, that it is our best policy, and

will be our practice to admit, under the restrictions of our laws on

this subject, a fair competition among all our merchants in the Indian

trade. This being the case then, it will happen, as it has already

happened, that one merchant having trade with any nation, at the usual

season gives them a credit and departs: a second knowing that such

advance had been made, hurries his outfit and arrives at that nation,

perhaps a month earlier in the fall than the merchant who had made

this advance to the Indians: he immediately assembles the nation and

offers his goods in exchange for their redskin hunt; the good faith of

the Indians, with respect to the absent merchant, will not bind them

to refuse; an exchange, of course, takes place; and when the merchant

to whom they are indebted arrives, they have no peltry, either to

barter or to pay him for the goods which they have already received;

the consequences are, that the merchant who has sustained the loss

becomes frantic; he abuses the Indians, bestows on them the epithets

of liars and dogs, and says a thousand things only calculated to sour

their minds, and disaffect them to the whites: the rival trader he

accuses of having robbed him of his credits (for they never give this

species of artifice among themselves a milder term) and calls him many

opprobrious names; a combat frequently ensues, in which the principals

are not the only actors, for their men will, of course, sympathise with

their respective employers. The Indians are the spectators of those

riotous transactions, which are well calculated to give them a contempt

for the character of the whites, and to inspire them with a belief

of the importance of their peltries and furs. The British traders

have even gone further in the northwest, and even offered bribes to

induce the Indians to destroy each other; nor have I any reason to

doubt but what the same thing will happen on the Missouri, unless some

disinterested person, armed with authority by government, be placed in

such a situation as will enable him to prevent such controversies.

I look to this custom of extending credits to the Indians, as one of

the great causes of all those individual contentions, which will most

probably arise in the course of this trade, as well between the Indians

and whites, as between the whites themselves; and that our agents

and officers will be always harrassed with settling these disputes,

which they never can do in such a manner as to restore a perfect good

understanding between the parties. I think it would be best in the

outset, for the government to let it be understood by the merchants,

that if they think proper to extend credits to the Indians, it shall

be at their own risk, dependent on the good faith of the Indians

for voluntary payment; that the failure of the Indians to comply

with their contracts, shall not be considered any justification for

their maltreatment or holding abusive language to them, and that no

assistance shall be given them in any shape by the public functionaries

to aid them in collecting their credits. If the government interfere

in behalf of the traders by any regulation, then it will be the

interest of every trader individually to get the Indians indebted to

him, and to keep them so in order to secure in future their peltries

and furs exclusively to himself. Thus, the Indians would be compelled

to exchange without choice of either goods or their prices, and the

government would have pledged itself to make the Indians pay for goods,

of which they cannot regulate the prices. I presume the government will

not undertake to regulate the merchant in this respect by law.

The difficulties which have arisen, and which must arise under existing

circumstances, may be readily corrected by establishing a few posts,

where there shall be a sufficient guard to protect the property of

the merchants in their absence, though it may be left with only a

single clerk: to those common marts, all traders and Indians should be

compelled to resort for the purposes of traffic.

The plan proposed guards against all difficulties, and provides for

a fair exchange, without the necessity of credit: when the Indian

appears with his peltry and fur, the competition between the merchants

will always insure him his goods on the lowest possible terms, and the

exchange taking place at once, there can be no cause of controversy

between the Indian and the merchant, and no fear of loss on the part

of the latter, unless he is disposed to make a voluntary sacrifice,

through a spirit of competition with others, by selling his goods at an

under value.

Some of the stipulations contained in the licenses usually granted our

Indian traders, are totally incompatible with the local situations, and

existing customs and habits of almost all the Indian nations in Upper

Louisiana. I allude more particularly to that clause in the license,

which compels them to trade at Indian towns only. It will be seen

by referrence to my statistical view of the Indian nations of Upper

Louisiana, that the great body of those people are roving bands, who

have no villages, or stationary residence. The next principal division

of them, embracing the Panias, Ottoes, Kanzas, &c. have not their

villages on the Missouri, and they even pass the greater portion of the

year at a distance from their villages, in the same roving manner. The

third, and only portion of those Indians, who can with propriety be

considered as possessed of such stationary villages as seems to have

been contemplated by this clause of the license, is confined to the

Ayaways, Sioux, and Foxes of the Mississippi, and the Ricaras, Mandans,

Minnetarees, and Ahwahaways of the Missouri. The consequence is, that

until some further provision be made, that all the traders who have

intercourse with any nations except those of the last class, will form

their establishments at the several points on the Missouri, where it

will be most convenient to meet the several nations with whom they wish

to carry on commerce. This is their practice at the present moment,

and their houses are scattered on various parts of the Missouri. In

this detached situation, it cannot be expected that they will comply

with any of the stipulations of their licenses. The superintendant of

St. Louis, distant eight hundred or a thousand miles, cannot learn

whether they have forfeited the penalty of their licenses or not; they

may, therefore, vend ardent spirits, compromit the government, or the

character of the whites, in the estimation of the Indians, or practice

any other crimes in relation to those people, without the fear of

detection or punishment. The government cannot with propriety, say to

those traders, that they shall trade at villages, when in reality they

do not exist; nor can they for a moment, I presume, think of incurring

the expense of sending an Indian agent with each trader, to see that he

commit no breach of the stipulations of his license. These traders must

of course be brought together, at some general points, where it will

be convenient for several nations to trade with them, and where they

can be placed under the eye of an Indian agent, whose duty it should

be to see that they comply with the regulations laid down for their

government. There are crimes which may be committed without a breach

of our present laws, and which make it necessary that some further

restrictions than those contained in the present licenses of our

traders, should either be added under penalties in those licenses, or

punished by way of a discretionary power, lodged in the superintendent,

extending to the exclusion of such individuals from the Indian trade.

Of this description I shall here enumerate three:

First, That of holding conversations with the Indians, tending to

bring our government into disrepute among them, and to alienate their

affections from the same.

Second, That of practising any means to induce the Indians to maltreat

or plunder other merchants.

Third, That of stimulating or exciting by bribes or otherwise, any

nations or bands of Indians, to wage war against other nations or

bands; or against the citizens of the United States, or against

citizens or subjects of any power at peace with the same.

These appear to me to be crimes fraught with more real evil to the

community and to the Indians themselves, than vending ardent spirits,

or visiting their hunting camps for the purpose of trade; yet there

are no powers vested in the superintendents, or agents of the United

States, to prevent their repeated commission; nor restrictions or fines

imposed by our laws, to punish such offences.

It is well known to me that we have several persons engaged in the

trade of the Missouri, who have, within the last three years, been

adopted as citizens of the United States, and who are now hostile to

our government. It is not reasonable to expect, that such persons will

act with good faith towards us. Hence, the necessity of assigning

metes and bounds to their transactions among the Indians. On my way

to St. Louis, last fall, I received satisfactory evidence that a Mr.

Robideau, an inhabitant of St. Louis, had, the preceding winter, during

his intercourse with the Ottoes and Missouris, been guilty of the most

flagrant breaches of the first of those misdemeanors above mentioned.

On my arrival at St. Louis, I reported the case to Mr. Broom, the

acting superintendent, and recommended his prohibiting that person from

the trade of the Missouri, unless he would give satisfactory assurances

of a disposition to hold a different language to the Indians. Mr. Broom

informed me, that the laws and regulations of the United States on

this subject, gave him no such powers; and Mr. Robideau and sons still

prosecute their trade.

The uncontrolled liberty which our citizens take of hunting on Indian

lands, has always been a source of serious difficulty, on every part of

our frontier, and is evidently destined to become quite as much so in

Upper Louisiana, unless it be restrained and limited within consistent

bounds. When the Indians have been taught, by commerce, duly to

appreciate the furs and peltries of their country, they feel excessive

chagrin at seeing the whites, by their superior skill in hunting, fast

diminishing those productions, to which they have been accustomed to

look as the only means of acquiring merchandise; and nine-tenths of

the causes of war are attributable to this practice. The Indians,

although well disposed to maintain a peace on any other terms, I am

convinced will never yield this point; nor do I consider it as of any

importance to us that they should; for with what consistency of precept

and practice can we say to the Indians, whom we wish to civilize, that

agriculture and the arts are more productive of ease, wealth, and

comfort, than the occupation of hunting, while they see distributed

over their forests a number of white men, engaged in the very

occupation which our doctrine would teach them to abandon. Under such

circumstances, it cannot be considered irrational in the Indians, to

conclude, that our recommendations to agriculture are interested, and

flow from a wish on our part to derive the whole emolument arising from

the peltries and furs of their country, by taking them to ourselves.

These observations, however, are intended to apply only to such Indian

nations as have had, and still maintain a commercial intercourse with

the whites: such we may say are those inhabiting the western branches

of the Mississippi, the eastern branches of the Missouri, and near the

main body of the latter, as far up as the Mandans and Minnetarees.

Here it is, therefore, that it appears to me expedient we should draw

a line; and temporarily change our policy. I presume it is not less

the wish of our government, that the Indians on the extreme branches

of the Missouri to the west, and within the Rocky mountains, should

obtain supplies of merchandise equally with those more immediately in

their vicinity. To effect this, the government must either become the

merchant themselves, or present no obstacles to their citizens, which

may prevent their becoming so with those distant nations; but as the

former cannot be adopted (though I really think it would be best for

a time) then it becomes the more necessary to encourage the latter.

Policy further dictates such encouragement being given, in order to

contravene the machinations preparing by the Northwest company for

practice in that quarter.

If the hunters are not permitted in those distant regions, the

merchants will not be at the expense of transporting their merchandise

thither, when they know that the natives do not possess the art of

taking the furs of their country. The use of the trap, by which those

furs are taken, is an art which must be learned before it can be

practised to advantage. If the American merchant does not adventure,

the field is at once abandoned to the Northwest company, who will

permit the hunter to go, and the merchant will most probably be with

him in the outset; the abundance of rich furs in that country, hold

out sufficient inducement for them to lose no time in pressing forward

their adventures. Thus those distant Indians will soon be supplied with

merchandise; and while they are taught the art of taking the furs of

their country, they will learn the value, and until they have learnt

its value, we shall run no risk of displeasing them by taking it. When

the period shall arrive that the distant nations shall have learned the

art of taking their furs, and know how to appreciate its value, then

the hunter becomes no longer absolutely necessary to the merchant, and

may be withdrawn; but in the outset, he seems to form a very necessary

link in that chain which is to unite these nations and ourselves in a

state of commercial intercourse.

The liberty to our merchants of hunting, for the purpose of procuring

food, in ascending and descending the navigable water-courses, as

well as while stationary at their commercial posts, is a privilege

which should not be denied them; but as the unlimited extent of such

a privilege would produce much evil, it should certainly be looked on

as a subject of primary importance: it should, therefore, enter into

all those compacts which we may think proper to form with the Indians

in that country, and be so shaped as to leave them no solid grounds of

discontent.

_The time to which licenses shall extend._

A view of the Indian character, so far as it is necessary it should be

known, for the purposes of governing them, or maintaining a friendly

commercial intercourse with them, may be comprised within the limits of

a few general remarks.

The _love of gain_ is the Indians’ ruling passion, and the fear of

punishment must form the corrective; to this passion we are to ascribe

their inordinate thirst for the possession of merchandise, their

unwillingness to accede to any terms, or enter into any stipulations,

except such as appear to promise them commercial advantages, and the

want of good faith, which they always evince by not complying with any

regulations, which in practice do not produce to them those expected

or promised advantages. The native justice of the Indian mind, will

always give way to his impatience for the possession of the goods of

the defenceless merchant, and he will plunder him, unless prevented by

the fear of punishment; nor can punishment assume a more terrific shape

to them, than that of _withholding every description of merchandise

from them_. This species of punishment, while it is one of the most

efficient in governing the Indians, is certainly the most humane,

as it enforces a compliance with our will, without the necessity of

bloodshed. But in order to compass the exercise of this weapon, our

government must first provide the means of controlling their traders.

No government will be respected by the Indians until they are made to

feel the effects of its power, or see it practised on others; and the

surest guarantee of savage fidelity to any government, is a thorough

conviction in their minds that they do possess the power of punishing

promptly, every act of aggression, which they may commit on the persons

or property of their citizens. If both traders and Indians throughout

Upper Louisiana, were compelled to resort to regulated commercial

posts, then the trader would be less liable to be pillaged, and the

Indians deterred from practising aggression; for when the Indians

once become convinced, that in consequence of their having practised

violence upon the persons or property of the traders, that they have

been cut off from all intercourse with those posts, and that they

cannot resort to any other places to obtain merchandise, then they

will make any sacrifice to regain the privilege they had previously

enjoyed; and I am confident, that in order to regain our favour in

such cases, they would sacrifice any individual who may be the object

of our displeasure, even should he be their favourite chief; for their

thirst of merchandise is paramount to every other consideration; and

the leading individuals among them, well knowing this trait in the

character of their own people, will not venture to encourage or excite

aggressions on the whites, when they know they are themselves to become

the victims of its consequences.

But if, on the other hand, these commercial establishments are not

general, and we suffer detached and insulated merchants, either

British or American, to exercise their own discretion, in setting

down where they may think proper, on the western branches of the

Mississippi, for the purposes of trading with the Indians; then,

although these commercial establishments may be so extended as to

embrace the Missouri, quite to the Mandans, still they will lose a

great part of their effects; because the roving bands of Tetons, and

the most dissolute of the Siouxs being denied the permission to trade

on the Missouri at any rate, would resort to those establishments

on the Mississippi, and thus become independent of the trade of the

Missouri, as they have hitherto been. To correct this, we have three

alternatives: First, to establish two commercial posts in this quarter.

Secondly, to prohibit all intercourse with the Sisitons, and other

bands of Siouxs, on the river St. Peter’s and the Raven’s-wing river,

informing those Indians that such prohibition has been the consequence

of the malconduct of the Tetons, and thus leave it to them to correct

them; or, Thirdly, to make an appeal to arms in order to correct the

Tetons ourselves.

Impressed with a belief unalloyed with doubts, that the ardent wish

of our government has ever been to conciliate the esteem, and secure

the friendship of all the savage nations within their territory, by

the exercise of every consistent and pacific measure in their power,

applying those of coertion only in the last resort, I here proceed with

a due deference to their better judgment, to develop a scheme which has

suggested itself to my mind, as the most expedient that I can devise

for the successful consummation of their philanthropic views towards

those wretched people of America, as well as to secure to the citizens

of the United States, all those advantages, which ought of right

exclusively to accrue to them, from the possession of Upper Louisiana.

The situation of the Indian trade on the Missouri and its waters, while

under the Spanish government.

The exclusive permission to trade with nations.

The giving by those exclusions, the right to individuals to furnish

supplies, which rendered the Indians independent of the government.

The times of sending goods to the Indians, and of returning to St.

Louis--the necessity of giving credits; therefore the disadvantages of.

The evils which grew out of the method pursued by the Spaniards, as

well to themselves as to the Indians.

The independence of individuals of their own government.

The dependence of the Indians on those individuals, and their

consequent contempt for the government, and for all other citizens whom

they plundered and murdered at pleasure.

The present rapacity of the Indians, owing to this cause, aided also by

the system of giving credits to the Indians, which caused contentions

among the traders, which terminated by giving the Indians a contempt

for the character of whites.

The permission to persons to hunt on Indian lands, productive of

many evils, the most frequent causes of war, hostile to the views of

civilizing, and of governing the Indians.

The first principle of governing the Indians is to govern the

whites--the impossibility of doing this without establishments, and

some guards at the posts.

The Sisitons may be made a check on the Tetons by withholding their

trade on the Mississippi.

Having stated the several evils which flowed from the Spanish system, I

now state the Indian character, the evils which still exist, and what

they will probably terminate in, if not redressed--the plan recommended

to be pursued and the benefits which may be expected to result

therefrom, conclude thus, it may be pretty confidently believed that it

is not competent to produce the wished-for reform among the Indians.

Hunters permitted in the Indian country pernicious--frequent cause of

war between us.

Some of the stipulations of the licenses granted the traders, in

application to the state of the Indians on the Missouri, of course not

attended to. The incompetence of the Indian agents to see that any of

the stipulations are complied with. Whiskey, or ardent spirits may,

therefore, be introduced, and other corruptions practised without our

knowledge. There is not at present allowed by law to the superintendant

of Indian affairs, any discretionary powers, by which he can prohibit

our newly acquired citizens of Louisiana, who may be disaffected to

our government, from trading with the Indians: the law says, that any

citizen of the United States, who can give sufficient security for

the sum of five hundred dollars, for the faithful compliance with the

stipulation of his license, shall be permitted to trade. An instance

has happened in Mr. Robideau, &c.

The preceding observations of captain Lewis, although left in an

unfinished state, are too important to be omitted. The premature death

of the author has prevented his filling up the able outline that he has

drawn.

A summary statement of the rivers, creeks, and most remarkable

places, their distances from each other, &c. their distances from the

Mississippi, ascending the Missouri, across the Rocky mountains, and

down the Columbia to the Pacific ocean, as was explored in the years

1804, 5, and 6, by captains Lewis and Clarke.

------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+------------

Names of remarkable places. |The width|Side on |Distances|Distances

|of rivers|which |from one |up the

|and |they are |place to |Missouri

|creeks in|situated.|another. |from the

|yards. | | |Mississippi.

------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+------------

| Yards | | Miles | Miles

To the village of St. Charles | | N.E. | 21 | 21

| | | |

Osage-woman’s river | 30 | N.E. | 20 | 41

| | | |

Charrette’s village and creek | 20 | N.E. | 27 | 68

| | | |

Shepherd’s creek | | S.W. | 15 | 83

| | | |

Gasconade river | 157 | S.W. | 17 | 100

| | | |

Muddy river | 50 | N.E. | 15 | 115

| | | |

Grand Osage river | 397 | S.W. | 18 | 133

| | | |

Murrow creek | 20 | S.W. | 5 | 138

| | | |

Cedar island and creek | 20 | N.E. | 7 | 145

| | | |

Leadmine hill | | S.W. | 9 | 154

| | | |

Manitou creek | 20 | S.E. | 8 | 162

| | | |

Splitrock creek | 20 | N.E. | 8 | 170

| | | |

Saline, or Salt river | 30 | S.E. | 3 | 173

| | | |

Manitou river | 30 | N.E. | 9 | 182

| | | |

Goodwoman’s river | 35 | N.E. | 9 | 191

| | | |

Mine river | 70 | S.W. | 9 | 200

| | | |

Arrow prairie | | S.W. | 6 | 206

| | | |

Two Charleton rivers | 30/70 | N.E. | 14 | 220

| | | |

Ancient village of the | | | |

Missouri nation, near which | | | |

place Fort Orleans stood | | N.E. | 16 | 236

| | | |

Grand river | 90 | N.E. | 4 | 240

| | | |

Snake creek | 18 | N.E. | 6 | 246

| | | |

Ancient village of the Little | | | |

Osages | | S.W. | 10 | 256

| | | |

Tigers’ island and creek | 25 | N.E. | 20 | 276

| | | |

Hubert’s island and creek | | S.W. | 12 | 388

| | | |

Fire-prairie creek | | S.W. | 12 | 300

| | | |

Fort Point | | S.W. | 6 | 306

| | | |

Haycabin creek | 20 | S.W. | 6 | 312

| | | |

Coalbank | | S.W. | 9 | 321

| | | |

Bluewater river | 30 | S.W. | 10 | 331

| | | |

Kanzas river | 230 | S.W. | 9 | 340

| | | |

Little river Platte | 60 | N.E. | 9 | 349

| | | |

To the First old Kanzas | | | |

village | | S.W. | 28 | 377

| | | |

Independence creek, a mile | | | |

below the second old Kanzas | | | |

village | | S.W. | 28 | 405

| | | |

St. Michael’s prairie | | N.E. | 25 | 430

| | | |

Nodawa river | 70 | N.E. | 20 | 450

| | | |

Wolf, or Loup river | 60 | S.W. | 14 | 464

| | | |

Big Nemaha river | 80 | S.W. | 16 | 480

| | | |

Tarkio creek | 23 | N.E. | 3 | 483

| | | |

Neeshnabatona river | 50 | N.E. | 25 | 508

| | | |

Little Nemaha river | 48 | S.W. | 8 | 516

| | | |

Baldpated prairie, the | | | |

Neeshnabatona within 150 | | | |

yards of the Missouri | | N.E. | 23 | 539

| | | |

Weepingwater creek | 25 | S.W. | 29 | 568

| | | |

River Platt, or Shoal river | 600 | S.W. | 32 | 600

| | | |

Butterfly, or Papillon creek | 18 | S.W. | 3 |

| | | |

Musquetoe creek | 22 | N.E. | 7 | 610

| | | |

Ancient village of the Ottoes | | S.W. | 11 |

| | | |

Ancient Ayaways village, | | | |

below a bluff, on the | | | |

northeast side | | N.E. | 6 |

| | | |

Bowyer’s river | 25 | N.E. | 11 |

| | | |

Council bluffs (establishment)| | S.W. | 12 | 650

| | | |

Soldier’s river | 40 | N.E. | 39 | 689

| | | |

Eaneahwaudepon, (Little Sioux | | | |

river) | 80 | N.E. | 44 | 733

| | | |

Waucarde, or Badspirit creek | | S.W. | 55 | 788

| | | |

Around a bend of the river to | | | |

the northeast, the gorge of | | | |

which is only 974 yards | | | 21 | 809

| | | |

To an island, 3 miles | | | |

northeast of the Maha | | | |

village | | | 27 | 836

| | | |

Floyd’s bluff and river | 35 | N.E. | 14 | 850

| | | |

To the Big Sioux river | 110 | N.E. | 3 | 858

| | | |

Commencement of the copperas, | | | |

cobalt, pirites, and alum | | | |

bluffs | | S.W. | 27 | 880

| | | |

Hot, or Burning bluffs | | S.W. | 30 | 910

| | | |

Whitestone river | 30 | N.E. | 8 | 918

| | | |

Petit-arc, an old Maha | | | |

village, at the mouth of | | | |

Littlebow creek | 15 | S.W. | 20 | 938

| | | |

River Jacques, or James’ | | | |

river | 90 | N.E. | 12 | 950

| | | |

Calumet bluff (mineral) | | S.W. | 10 | 960

| | | |

Ancient fortification, | | | |

Goodman’s island | | S.W. | 16 | 976

| | | |

To Plum creek | 12 | N.E. | 10 | 986

| | | |

Whitepoint creek | 28 | S.W. | 8 | 994

| | | |

Quicourre | 152 | S.W. | 6 | 1000

| | | |

To the Poncar river and | | | |

village | 30 | S.W. | 10 | 1010

| | | |

To the dome and village of | | | |

the burrowing squirrels | | S.W. | 20 | 1030

| | | |

Island of cedars | | | 45 | 1075

| | | |

To White river | 300 | S.W. | 55 | 1130

| | | |

To the Three rivers of the | | | |

Sioux pass | 35 | N.E. | 22 | 1152

| | | |

An island in the commencement | | | |

of the Big bend | | N.E. | 20 | 1172

| | | |

The upper part of the Big | | | |

bend, the gorge of which is | | | |

1¼ miles | | S.W. | 30 | 1202

| | | |

To Tylor’s river | 35 | S.W. | 6 | 1208

| | | |

Loisel’s fort on Cedar island | | S.W. | 18 | 1226

| | | |

Teton river | 70 | S.W. | 37 | 1263

| | | |

The upper of five old Ricara | | | |

villages, reduced by the | | | |

Sioux, and abandoned | | S.W. | 42 | 1305

| | | |

To Chayenne river | 400 | S.W. | 5 | 1310

| | | |

An old Ricara village on | | | |

Lahoocat’s island | | | 47 | 1357

| | | |

Sarwarkarna river | 90 | S.W. | 40 | 1397

| | | |

Wetarhoo river | 120 | S.W. | 25 | 1422

| | | |

The first Ricaras villages on | | | |

an island | | S.W. | 4 |

| | | |

Second Ricaras three villages | | S.W. | 4 | 1430

| | | |

Stone-idol creek | 18 | N.E. | 18 |

| | | |

Warreconne river | 35 | N.E. | 40 | 1488

| | | |

Cannonball river | 140 | S.W. | 12 | 1500

| | | |

Chesschetar river, near six | | | |

old Mandan villages | 38 | S.W. | 40 | 1540

| | | |

Old Ricara and Mandan villages| | S.W. | 40 | 1580

| | | |

To Fort Mandan (wintering | | | |

post of 1804) | | N.E. | 20 | 1600

| | | |

The Mandan villages on each | | | |

side | | | 4 | 1604

| | | |

To Knife river, on which the | | | |

two Minnetaree and Maha | | | |

villages are situated near | | | |

the mouth | 80 | S.W. | 2 | 1606

| | | |

The Island | | | 11 |

| | | |

Miry river | 10 | N.E. | 16 | 1633

| | | |

Island in the Little basin | | | 28 |

| | | |

Little Missouri river | 134 | S.W. | 29 | 1690

| | | |

Wild-onion creek | 16 | N.E. | 12 |

| | | |

Goose-egg lake | 300 | N.E. | 9 |

| | | |

Chaboneau’s creek | 20 | S.W. | 16 | 1727

| | | |

Goatpen creek, Mouse river, | | | |

waters of lake Winnipec | | | |

near the Missouri | 20 | N.E. | 16 | 1743

| | | |

To Hall’s, strand, lake, and | | | |

creek | | N.E. | 47 | 1790

| | | |

White-earth river | 60 | N.E. | 40 | 1840

| | | |

Rochejaune, or Yellowstone | | | |

river | 858 | S.W. | 40 | 1880

| | | |

To Martha’s river | 50 | N.E. | 60 | 1940

| | | |

Porcupine river | 112 | N.E. | 50 | 1990

| | | |

To the Littledry creek | 25 | S.W. | 40 | 2030

| | | |

Bigdry creek | 100 | S.W. | 9 |

| | | |

Littledry river | 200 | S.W. | 6 | 2045

| | | |

Gulf in the Island bend | | | 32 |

| | | |

To Milk river | 150 | N.E. | 13 | 2090

| | | |

Bigdry river | 400 | S.W. | 25 |

| | | |

Werner’s run | 10 | N.E. | 9 |

| | | |

Pine creek | 20 | N.E. | 36 | 2160

| | | |

Gibson’s river | 35 | N.E. | 17 | 2177

| | | |

Brownbear-defeated creek | 40 | S.W. | 12 |

| | | |

Bratton’s river | 100 | N.E. | 24 | 2213

| | | |

Burntlodge creek | 50 | S.W. | 6 |

| | | |

Wiser’s creek | 40 | N.E. | 14 | 2233

| | | |

Muscleshell river | 110 | S.W. | 37 | 2270

| | | |

Grouse creek | 20 | N.E. | 30 |

| | | |

North-mountain creek | 30 | N.E. | 36 | 2336

| | | |

South-mountain creek | 30 | S.W. | 18 | 2354

| | | |

Ibex island | | | 15 |

| | | |

Goodrich’s island | | | 9 | 2378

| | | |

Windsor’s creek | 30 | N.E. | 7 | 2385

| | | |

Elk rapid (swift water) | | | 15 | 2400

| | | |

Thomson’s creek | 28 | N.E. | 27½ | 2427½

| | | |

Judith’s river | 100 | S.W. | 11½ | 2439

| | | |

Ash rapid (swift water) | | | 4 |

| | | |

Slaughter river | 40 | S.W. | 11 | 2454

| | | |

Stonewall creek, above the | | | |

natural walls | 30 | N.E. | 26 | 2480

| | | |

Maria’s river | 186 | N.E. | 41 | 2521

| | | |

Snow river | 50 | S.W. | 19 |

| | | |

Shields’s river | 35 | S.W. | 28 | 2568

| | | |

The foot of the entrance of | | | |

Portage river, five miles | | | |

below the Great falls | 45 | S.W. | 7 | 2575

Leaving the Missouri below the falls, and passing by land to the

navigable waters of the Columbia river.

------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+------------

Names of remarkable places. |Width of |Distance |Distance |Distance

|the |from one |from the |from the

|rivers |place to |falls of |Mississippi.

|and |another. |the |

|creeks. | |Missouri.|

------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+------------

| Yards. | Miles. | Miles. | Miles.

To the entrance of Medicine | | | |

river | 137 | 18 | 18 | 2593

| | | |

Fort Mountain, passing through| | | |

the plain between Medicine | | | |

river and the Missouri, | | | |

near the Missouri | | 15 | 33 | 2603

| | | |

Rocky mountains, to a gap on | | | |

the ridge, which divides | | | |

the waters of the Missouri | | | |

from those of the Columbia | | | |

passing the north part of | | | |

a mountain and crossing | | | |

Dearborn’s river | | 35 | 68 | 2643

| | | |

Fork of Cohahlarishkit river | | | |

from the north, passed four | | | |

creeks from the north | 45 | 40 | 108 | 2683

| | | |

To Seaman’s creek from the | | | |

north | 20 | 7 | 115 |

| | | |

Werner’s creek from the north | 35 | 10 | 125 | 2700

| | | |

The east fork of Clarke’s | | | |

river, at the entrance of | | | |

Cohahlarishkit | 120 | 30 | 155 | 3730

| | | |

To Clarke’s river, below the | | | |

forks | 150 | 12 | 167 | 2742

| | | |

Traveller’s-rest creek, on | | | |

the west side of Clarke’s | | | |

river, about the forks | 25 | 5 | 172 | 2747

| | | |

The Forks of Traveller’s-rest | | | |

creek, at a right hand road | | 18 | 190 |

| | | |

Hot springs on the creek | | 13 | 203 | 2778

| | | |

Quamash glades, passing the | | | |

head of the creek to a | | | |

branch of Kooskooskee river | | 7 | 210 |

| | | |

North branch of Kooskooskee | | | |

river, a left-hand road | | | |

leads off at five miles | | 7 | 217 |

| | | |

Junction of the roads on the | | | |

top of a snowy mountain, | | | |

the left-hand road, passing | | | |

by a fishery | | 10 | 227 | 2802

| | | |

Hungry creek from the right, | | | |

passing on a dividing | | | |

mountain, covered with deep | | | |

snow, except on two places, | | | |

which are open, with a | | | |

southern exposure at 8 and | | | |

36 miles | | 54 | 281 | 2856

| | | |

To a Glade upon Hungry creek | | 6 | 287 |

| | | |

Glade upon a small branch of | | | |

do. | | 8 | 295 |

| | | |

Glade upon Fish creek | 10 | 9 | 304 |

| | | |

To Collins’s creek | 25 | 13 | 317 |

| | | |

Quamash flats | | 11 | 328 | 2903

| | | |

Kooskooskee, or Flathead’s | | | |

river, in a pine country | 120 | 12 | 340 | 2915

NOTE. In passing from the falls of the Missouri, across the

Rocky mountains to the navigable waters of the Columbia, you

have two hundred miles of good road, one hundred and forty

miles of high, steep, rugged mountains, sixty miles of which is

covered from two to eight feet deep with snow in the last of

June.

-----------------------------+-------+--------+--------+--------+--------

Remarkable places |Width |The side|Distance|Distance|Distance

descending the Columbia. |of the |on which|from one|descend-|from the

|rivers |they are|place to|ing the |Missis-

|and |situat- |another.|Colum- |sippi.

|creeks.|ed. | |bia. |

-----------------------------+-------+--------+--------+--------+--------

|Yards. | Side. | Miles. | Miles. | Miles.

To the entrance of Rockdam | | | | |

creek | 20 | N. | 8 | 8 | 2923

| | | | |

Chopunnish river | 120 | N. | 5 | 13 | 2928

| | | | |

Colter’s creek | 35 | N. | 37 | 50 | 2978

| | | | |

Lewis’s river, at the | | | | |

entrance of the | | | | |

Kooskooskee river | 200 | S. | 23 | 73 | 2988

| | | | |

The Sweathouse village and | | | | |

run | | S. | 7 | 80 |

| | | | |

Pilot’s village | | N. | 11 | 91 | 3005

| | | | |

Kemooenim creek | 20 | S. | 48 | 139 |

| | | | |

Drewyer’s river, below the | | | | |

narrows of Lewis’s river | 30 | N. | 5 | 144 | 3059

| | | | |

Cave rapid | | | 28 | 172 |

| | | | |

Basin rapid (bad) | | | 34 | 206 | 3121

| | | | |

Discharge rapid (bad) | | | 14 | 220 | 3135

| | | | |

The Columbia at the mouth | | | | |

of Lewis’s river, from | | | | |

the east | | S.E. | 7 | 227 | 3142

| | | | |

Wollawollah river, passed | | | | |

eleven large mat lodges | | | | |

of that nation | 40 | S.E. | 16 | 243 | 3158

| | | | |

Muscleshell rapid (bad) | | | | |

passed thirty-three mat | | | | |

lodges of the | | | | |

Wollawollahs | | | 25 | 268 | 3183

| | | | |

Pelican rapid, passed | | | | |

forty-eight lodges of | | | | |

the Pishquitpahs nation | | N. | 22 | 290 | 3205

| | | | |

Twenty-one lodges of the | | | | |

Wahowpum nation, residing | | | | |

on three islands, at the | | | | |

commencement of the high | | | | |

country | | N. | 18 | 308 | 3223

| | | | |

To eight lodges of the | | | | |

Wahowpums at Short rapid | | N. | 27 | 335 | 3250

| | | | |

The Rocky rapid, nine lodges | | | | |

of the same nation | | N. | 13 | 348 | 3263

| | | | |

The river La Page (bad rapid)| 40 | S. | 9 | 357 | 3272

| | | | |

Twenty seven lodges of the | | | | |

Eneshure nation, at | | | | |

Fishstack rapid | | N. | 10 | 367 | 3282

| | | | |

Towahnahiooks river | 180 | S. | 8 | 375 | 3290

| | | | |

The Great falls of the | | | | |

Columbia river of 57 feet | | | | |

8 inches, near which there | | | | |

are forty mat lodges of | | | | |

the Eneshure nation | | N. | 4 | 379 | 3294

| | | | |

The Short narrows, 45 yards | | | | |

wide | | | 2 | 381 | 3296

| | | | |

Skilloot village of | | | | |

twenty-one large wood | | | | |

houses, at the long | | | | |

narrows, from 50 to 100 | | | | |

yards wide | | N. | 4 | 385 | 3300

| | | | |

Chilluckittequaw village of | | | | |

eight large wood houses | | N. | 14 | 390 | 3314

| | | | |

Cataract river, a few miles | | | | |

below a village of seven | | | | |

houses, and immediately | | | | |

above one of eleven houses | | | | |

of the Chilluckittequaw | | | | |

nation | 60 | N. | 10 | 409 | 3324

| | | | |

Sepulchre rock, opposite to | | | | |

a village of houses of | | | | |

Chilluckittequaws | | N. | 4 | 413 | 3328

| | | | |

River Labiche, opposite to | | | | |

twenty-six houses of the | | | | |

Smackshop nation, houses | | | | |

scattered on the north side| 46 | S. | 9 | 422 | 3337

| | | | |

Little Lake creek, three | | | | |

houses of the Smackshop | | | | |

nation | 28 | N. | 10 | 432 | 3347

| | | | |

Cruzatte’s river | 60 | N. | 12 | 444 | 3359

| | | | |

The Grand rapid, just below | | | | |

the village of the Yehah | | | | |

tribe of the Shahala nation| | | | |

of fourteen wood houses | | N. | 6 | 450 | 3365

| | | | |

Clahelellah village of the | | | | |

Shahala nation, near the | | | | |

foot of the rapids; seven | | | | |

houses | | N. | 6 | 456 | 3371

| | | | |

Wabetellah village of | | | | |

the Shahala nation, | | | | |

twenty-three houses, just | | | | |

below the entrance of the | | | | |

Beacon-rock creek | | N. | 6 | 162 | 3377

| | | | |

_Tide water._ | | | | |

| | | | |

Phoca rock in the river, | | | | |

sixty-feet above water | | | 11 | 473 | 3388

| | | | |

To Quicksand river | 120 | S. | 9 | 482 | 3397

| | | | |

Seal river | 80 | N. | 3 | 485 |

| | | | |

Neechaokee village, opposite | | | | |

to the Diamond island | | S. | 4 | 489 |

| | | | |

Shahala village of | | | | |

twenty-five temporary | | | | |

houses | | S. | 12 | 501 | 3416

| | | | |

Multnomah river | 500 | S. | 14 | 515 | 3430

| | | | |

Multnomah village | | S. | 6 | 521 |

| | | | |

Quathlahpotle village | | N. | 8 | 529 |

| | | | |

Tahwahnahiooks river | 200 | N. | 1 | 530 | 3445

| | | | |

Cathlahaws creek and village | 18 | N. | 10 | 540 | 3455

| | | | |

Lower extremity of Elallah | | | | |

or Deer island | | S. | 6 | 546 |

| | | | |

Coweliskee river, about the | | | | |

entrance, and up this river| | | | |

the Skilloot nation reside | 150 | N. | 13 | 559 | 3474

| | | | |

Fanny’s island | | S. | 16 | 577 | 3490

| | | | |

The Sea-otter island | | | 12 | 587 | 3502

| | | | |

The upper village of the | | | | |

Wahkiacum nation | | N. | 6 | 593 | 3508

| | | | |

The Cathlamahs village of | | | | |

nine large wood houses, S. | | | | |

of Seal islands | | S. | 14 | 607 | 3522

| | | | |

Point William, opposite | | | | |

Shallow bay | | S. | 10 | 617 | 3532

| | | | |

Point Meriwether, above | | | | |

Meriwether’s bay | | S. | 9 | 626 | 3541

| | | | |

Clatsop village, below | | | | |

Meriwether’s bay, and | | | | |

seven miles northwest of | | | | |

Fort Clatsop | | S. | 8 | 634 | 3549

| | | | |

Point Adams, at the entrance | | | | |

of the Columbia into the | | | | |

Pacific ocean, or Great | | | | |

South Sea, in latitude | | | | |

46° 15´ north, and | | | | |

longitude 124° 57´ west | | | | |

from Greenwich | | S. | 6 | 640 | 3555

NOTE. Fort Clatsop is situated on the west side of, and three

miles up the Netui river from Meriwether bay, and seven miles

east from the nearest part of the seacoast;--at this fort

captain M. Lewis, and captain W. Clarke, passed the winter of

1805 and 1806.

The road by which we went out by the way of the Missouri to its head is

3096 miles, thence by land, by way of Lewis’s river over to Clarke’s

river, and down that to the entrance of Traveller’s-rest creek, where

all the roads from different routes meet, then across the rugged part

of the Rocky mountains to the navigable waters of the Columbia, 398

miles; thence down the river 640 miles, to the Pacific ocean; making

a total distance of 4134 miles. On our return in 1806, we came from

Traveller’s-rest creek directly to the falls of the Missouri river,

which shortens the distance about 579 miles, and is a much better

route, reducing the distance from the Mississippi to the Pacific ocean

to 3555 miles. 2575 miles of this distance is up the Missouri to the

falls of that river; thence passing through the plains, and across the

Rocky mountains to the navigable waters of the Kooskooskee river, a

branch of the Columbia, 340 miles; 200 miles of which is a good road,

140 miles over a tremendous mountain, steep and broken, 60 miles of

which is covered several feet deep with snow, on which we passed the

last of June: from the navigable part of the Kooskooskee we descended

that rapid river 75 miles to its entrance into Lewis’s river, and

down that river 154 miles to the Columbia, and thence 413 miles to

its entrance into the Pacific ocean. About 180 miles of this distance

is tide-water. We passed several bad rapids and narrows, and one

considerable fall, 268 miles above the entrance of this river, of 37

feet 8 inches.--The total distance descending the Columbian waters 640

miles, making a total of 3555 miles, on the most direct route from the

Mississippi, at the mouth of the Missouri, to the Pacific ocean.

ESTIMATE OF THE WESTERN INDIANS.