Soon after they had fixed their camp, the explorers bade farewell to
their good friend Tunnachemootoolt and his young men, who returned
to their homes farther down the river. Others of the Nez Perce, or
Chopunnish, nation visited them, and the strangers were interested in
watching the Indians preparing for their hunt. As they were to hunt the
deer, they had the head, horns, and hide of that animal so prepared
that when it was placed on the head and body of a hunter, it gave a very
deceptive idea of a deer; the hunter could move the head of the decoy
so that it looked like a deer feeding, and the suspicious animals were
lured within range of the Indians’ bow and arrow.
On the sixteenth of May, Hohastillpilp and his young men also left the
white men’s camp and returned to their own village. The hunters of the
party did not meet with much luck in their quest for game, only one deer
and a few pheasants being brought in for several days. The party were
fed on roots and herbs, a species of onion being much prized by them.
Bad weather confined them to their camp, and a common entry in their
journal refers to their having slept all night in a pool of water formed
by the falling rain; their tent-cover was a worn-out leathern affair
no longer capable of shedding the rain. While it rained in the meadows
where they were camped, they could see the snow covering the higher
plains above them; on those plains the snow was more than a foot deep,
and yet the plants and shrubs seemed to thrive in the midst of the snow.
On the mountains the snow was several feet in depth. The journalist
says: “So that within twenty miles of our camp we observe the rigors
of winter cold, the cool air of spring, and the oppressive heat of
midsummer.” They kept a shrewd lookout for the possibilities of future
occupation of the land by white men; and, writing here of country and
its character, the journalist says: “In short, this district affords
many advantages to settlers, and if properly cultivated, would yield
every object necessary for the comfort and subsistence of civilized
man.” But in their wildest dreams, Captains Lewis and Clark could not
have foreseen that in that identical region thrifty settlements of white
men should flourish and that the time would come when the scanty remnant
of the Chopunnish, whom we now call Nez Perces, would be gathered on a
reservation near their camping-place. But both of these things have come
to pass.
In describing the dress of the Chopunnish, or Nez Perces, the
journal says that tippets, or collars, were worn by the men. “That
of Hohastillpilp,” says the journal, “was formed of human scalps and
adorned with the thumbs and fingers of several men slain by him in
battle.” And yet the journal immediately adds: “The Chopunnish are among
the most amiable men we have seen. Their character is placid and gentle,
rarely moved to passion, yet not often enlivened by gayety.” In short,
the Indians were amiable savages; and it is a savage trait to love to
destroy one’s enemies.
Here is an entry in the journal of May 19 which will give the reader
some notion of the privations and the pursuits of the party while shut
up in camp for weary weeks in the early summer of 1806:--
“After a cold, rainy night, during a greater part of which we lay in the
water, the weather became fair; we then sent some men to a village above
us, on the opposite side, to purchase some roots. They carried with
them for this purpose a small collection of awls, knitting-pins, and
armbands, with which they obtained several bushels of the root of cows,
and some bread of the same material. They were followed, too, by a train
of invalids from the village, who came to ask for our assistance. The
men were generally afflicted with sore eyes; but the women had besides
this a variety of other disorders, chiefly rheumatic, a violent pain and
weakness in the loins, which is a common complaint among them; one of
them seemed much dejected, and as we thought, from the account of her
disease, hysterical. We gave her thirty drops of laudanum, and after
administering eye-water, rubbing the rheumatic patients with volatile
liniment, and giving cathartics to others, they all thought themselves
much relieved and returned highly satisfied to the village. We were
fortunate enough to retake one of the horses on which we (Captain Lewis)
had crossed the Rocky Mountains in the autumn, and which had become
almost wild since that time.”
A day or two later, the journal has this significant entry: “On
parcelling out the stores, the stock of each man was found to be only
one awl, and one knitting-pin, half an ounce of vermilion, two needles,
a few skeins of thread, and about a yard of ribbon--a slender means of
bartering for our subsistence; but the men have been so much accustomed
to privations that now neither the want of meat nor the scanty funds
of the party excites the least anxiety among them.” To add to their
discomfort, there was a great deal of sickness in the camp, owing to the
low diet of the men. Sacajawea’s baby was ill with mumps and teething,
and it is suggested that the two captains would have been obliged to
“walk the floor all night,” if there had been any floor to walk on; as
it was, they were deprived of their nightly rest. Here is an example
of what the doctors would call heroic treatment by Captain Clark, who
conducted all such experiments:--
“With one of the men (Bratton) we have ventured an experiment of a very
robust nature. He has been for some time sick, but has now recovered his
flesh, eats heartily, and digests well, but has so great a weakness in
the loins that he cannot walk or even sit upright without extreme pain.
After we had in vain exhausted the resources of our art, one of the
hunters mentioned that he had known persons in similar situations to
be restored by violent sweats, and at the request of the patient, we
permitted the remedy to be applied. For this purpose a hole about four
feet deep and three in diameter was dug in the earth, and heated well
by a large fire in the bottom of it. The fire was then taken out, and
an arch formed over the hole by means of willow-poles, and covered
with several blankets so as to make a perfect awning. The patient being
stripped naked, was seated under this on a beach, with a piece of board
for his feet, and with a jug of water sprinkled the bottom and sides
of the hole, so as to keep up as hot a steam as he could bear.
After remaining twenty minutes in this situation, he was taken out,
immediately plunged twice in cold water, and brought back to the hole,
where he resumed the vapor bath. During all this time he drank copiously
a strong infusion of horse-mint, which was used as a substitute for
seneca-root, which our informant said he had seen employed on these
occasions, but of which there is none in this country. At the end
of three-quarters of an hour he was again withdrawn from the hole,
carefully wrapped, and suffered to cool gradually. This operation was
performed yesterday; this morning he walked about and is nearly free
from pain. About eleven o’clock a canoe arrived with three Indians, one
of whom was the poor creature who had lost the use of his limbs, and
for whose recovery the natives seem very anxious, as he is a chief of
considerable rank among them. His situation is beyond the reach of our
skill. He complains of no pain in any peculiar limb, and we therefore
think his disorder cannot be rheumatic, and his limbs would have been
more diminished if his disease had been a paralytic affection. We had
already ascribed it to his diet of roots, and had recommended his living
on fish and flesh, and using the cold bath every morning, with a dose of
cream of tartar or flowers of sulphur every third day.”
It is gratifying to be able to record the fact that Bratton and the
Indian (who was treated in the same manner) actually recovered from
their malady. The journal says of the Indian that his restoration
was “wonderful.” This is not too strong a word to use under the
circumstances, for the chief had been helpless for nearly three years,
and yet he was able to get about and take care of himself after he had
been treated by Captain (otherwise Doctor) Clark. Two of his men met
with a serious disaster about this time; going across the river to trade
with some Indians, their boat was stove and went to the bottom, carrying
with it three blankets, a blanket-coat, and their scanty stock of
merchandise, all of which was utterly lost. Another disaster, which
happened next day, is thus recorded:--
“Two of our men, who had been up the river to trade with the Indians,
returned quite unsuccessful. Nearly opposite the village, their horse
fell with his load down a steep cliff into the river, across which he
swam. An Indian on the opposite side drove him back to them; but
in crossing most of the articles were lost and the paint melted.
Understanding their intentions, the Indians attempted to come over to
them, but having no canoe, were obliged to use a raft, which struck on a
rock, upset, and the whole store of roots and bread were destroyed.
This failure completely exhausted our stock of merchandise; but the
remembrance of what we suffered from cold and hunger during the passage
of the Rocky Mountains makes us anxious to increase our means of
subsistence and comfort, since we have again to encounter the same
inconvenience.”
But the ingenuity of the explorers was equal to this emergency. Having
observed that the Indians were very fond of brass buttons, which they
fastened to their garments as ornaments, and not for the useful purpose
for which buttons are made, the men now proceeded to cut from their
shabby United States uniforms those desired articles, and thus formed a
new fund for trading purposes. To these they added some eye-water, some
basilicon, and a few small tin boxes in which phosphorus had been kept.
Basilicon, of which mention is frequently made in the journal, was an
ointment composed of black pitch, white wax, resin, and olive oil; it
was esteemed as a sovereign remedy for all diseases requiring an outward
application. With these valuables two men were sent out to trade with
the Indians, on the second day of June, and they returned with three
bushels of eatable roots and some cowas bread. Later in that day, a
party that had been sent down the river (Lewis’) in quest of food,
returned with a goodly supply of roots and seventeen salmon. These
fish, although partly spoiled by the long journey home, gave great
satisfaction to the hungry adventurers, for they were the promise of a
plenty to come when the salmon should ascend the rivers that make into
the Columbia. At this time we find the following interesting story in
the journal of the expedition:--
“We had lately heard, also, that some Indians, residing at a
considerable distance, on the south side of the Kooskooskee, were in
possession of two tomahawks, one of which had been left at our camp on
Moscheto Creek, and the other had been stolen while we were with the
Chopunnish in the autumn. This last we were anxious to obtain, in order
to give it to the relations of our unfortunate companion, Sergeant
Floyd,(1) to whom it once belonged. We therefore sent Drewyer, with the
two chiefs Neeshnepahkeeook and Hohastillpilp (who had returned to us)
to demand it. On their arrival, they found that the present possessor
of it, who had purchased it of the thief, was at the point of death; and
his relations were unwilling to give it up, as they wished to bury it in
the grave with the deceased. The influence of Neeshnepahkeeook, however,
at length prevailed; and they consented to surrender the tomahawk on
receiving two strands of beads and a handkerchief from Drewyer, and
from each of the chiefs a horse, to be killed at the funeral of their
kinsman, according to the custom of the country.”
(1) See page 23.
The Chopunnish chiefs now gave their final answer to the two captains
who had requested guides from them. The chiefs said that they could not
accompany the party, but later in the summer they might cross the great
divide and spend the next winter on the headwaters of the Missouri. At
present, they could only promise that some of their young men should go
with the whites; these had not been selected, but they would be sent on
after the party, if the two captains insisted on starting now. This
was not very encouraging, for they had depended upon the Indians for
guidance over the exceedingly difficult and even dangerous passages of
the mountains. Accordingly, it was resolved that, while waiting on the
motions of the Indians, the party might as well make a visit to Quamash
flats, where they could lay in a stock of provisions for their arduous
journey. It is not certain which of the several Quamash flats mentioned
in the history of the expedition is here referred to; but it is likely
that the open glade in which Captain Clark first struck the low country
of the west is here meant. It was here that he met the Indian boys
hiding in the grass, and from here he led the expedition out of the
wilderness. For “quamash” read “camass,” an edible root much prized by
the Nez Perces then and now.
While they lingered at their camp, they were visited by several bands of
friendly Indians. The explorers traded horses with their visitors,
and, with what they already had, they now found their band to number
sixty-five, all told. Having finished their trading, they invited the
Indians to take part in the games of prisoners’ base and foot-racing; in
the latter game the Indians were very expert, being able to distance
the fleetest runner of the white men’s party. At night, the games
were concluded by a dance. The account of the expedition says that the
captains were desirous of encouraging these exercises before they
should begin the passage over the mountains, “as several of the men are
becoming lazy from inaction.”
On the tenth of June the party set out for Quamash flats, each man well
mounted and leading a spare horse which carried a small load. To their
dismay, they found that their good friends, the Chopunnish, unwilling to
part with them, were bound to accompany them to the hunting-grounds. The
Indians would naturally expect to share in the hunt and to be provided
for by the white men. The party halted there only until the sixth of
June, and then, collecting their horses, set out through what proved to
be a very difficult trail up the creek on which they were camped, in
a northeasterly direction. There was still a quantity of snow on the
ground, although this was in shady places and hollows. Vegetation was
rank, and the dogtooth violet, honeysuckle, blue-bell, and columbine
were in blossom. The pale blue flowers of the quamash gave to the level
country the appearance of a blue lake. Striking Hungry Creek, which
Captain Clark had very appropriately named when he passed that way, the
previous September, they followed it up to a mountain for about three
miles, when they found themselves enveloped in snow; their limbs were
benumbed, and the snow, from twelve to fifteen feet deep, so paralyzed
their feet that further progress was impossible. Here the journal should
be quoted:--
“We halted at the sight of this new difficulty. We already knew that to
wait till the snows of the mountains had dissolved, so as to enable us
to distinguish the road, would defeat our design of returning to the
United States this season. We now found also that as the snow bore our
horses very well, travelling was infinitely easier than it was last
fall, when the rocks and fallen timber had so much obstructed our march.
But it would require five days to reach the fish-weirs at the mouth of
Colt (-killed) Creek, even if we were able to follow the proper ridges
of the mountains; and the danger of missing our direction is exceedingly
great while every track is covered with snow. During these five days,
too, we have no chance of finding either grass or underwood for our
horses, the snow being so deep. To proceed, therefore, under such
circumstances, would be to hazard our being bewildered in the mountains,
and to insure the loss of our horses; even should we be so fortunate as
to escape with our lives, we might be obliged to abandon all our papers
and collections. It was therefore decided not to venture any further;
to deposit here all the baggage and provisions for which we had no
immediate use; and, reserving only subsistence for a few days, to return
while our horses were yet strong to some spot where we might live
by hunting, till a guide could be procured to conduct us across the
mountains. Our baggage was placed on scaffolds and carefully covered, as
were also the instruments and papers, which we thought it safer to leave
than to risk over the roads and creeks by which we came.”
There was nothing left to do but to return to Hungry Creek. Finding a
scanty supply of grass, they camped under most depressing circumstances;
their outlook now was the passing of four or five days in the midst
of snows from ten to fifteen feet deep, with no guide, no road, and
no forage. In this emergency, two men were sent back to the Chopunnish
country to hurry up the Indians who had promised to accompany them over
the mountains; and, to insure a guide, these men were authorized to
offer a rifle as a reward for any one who would undertake the task. For
the present, it was thought best to return to Quamash flats.