Indian method of attacking the buffaloe _History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, Vol. 1. To the Sources of the Missouri, Thence Across the Rocky Mountains and Down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Performed During the Years 1804-5-6.

of the presents sent to the president of the United States--The

party are visited by a Ricara chief--They leave their encampment,

and proceed on their journey--description of the Little

Missouri--Some account of the Assiniboins--Their mode of burying

the dead--Whiteearth river described--Great quantity of salt

discovered on its banks--Yellowstone river described--A particular

account of the country at the confluence of the Yellowstone and

Missouri--Description of the Missouri, the surrounding country, and

of the rivers, creeks, islands, &c.

Friday 22. This was a clear pleasant day, with the wind from the S.S.W.

We were visited by the second chief of the Minnetarees, to whom we gave

a medal and some presents, accompanied by a speech. Mr. M'Kenzie and Mr.

Laroche also came to see us. They all took their leave next day.

Saturday 23. Soon after their departure, a brother of the Borgne with

other Indians came to the fort. The weather was fine, but in the evening

we had the first rain that has fallen during the winter.

Sunday 24. The morning cloudy, but the afternoon fair, the wind from the

N.E. We are employed in preparing for our journey. This evening swans

and wild geese flew towards the N.E.

Monday 25. A fine day, the wind S.W. The river rose nine inches, and the

ice began breaking away in several places, so as to endanger our canoes

which we are hauling down to the fort.

Tuesday 26. The river rose only half an inch, and being choaked up with

ice near the fort, did not begin to run till towards evening. This day

is clear and pleasant.

Wednesday 27. The wind is still high from the S.W.: the ice which is

ocasionally stopped for a few hours is then thrown over shallow

sandbars when the river runs. We had all our canoes brought down, and

were obliged to cauk and pitch very attentively the cracks so common in

cottonwood.

Thursday 28. The day is fair. Some obstacle above has prevented the ice

from running. Our canoes are now nearly ready, and we expect to set out

as soon as the river is sufficiently clear to permit us to pass.

Friday 29. The weather clear, and the wind from N.W. The obstruction

above gave way this morning, and the ice came down in great quantities;

the river having fallen eleven inches in the course of the last

twenty-four hours. We have had few Indians at the fort for the last

three or four days, as they are now busy in catching the floating

buffaloe. Every spring as the river is breaking up the surrounding

plains are set on fire, and the buffaloe tempted to cross the river in

search of the fresh grass which immediately succeeds to the burning: on

their way they are often insulated on a large cake or mass of ice, which

floats down the river: the Indians now select the most favourable points

for attack, and as the buffaloe approaches dart with astonishing agility

across the trembling ice, sometimes pressing lightly a cake of not more

than two feet square: the animal is of course unsteady, and his

footsteps insecure on this new element, so that he can make but little

resistance, and the hunter, who has given him his death wound, paddles

his icy boat to the shore and secures his prey.

Saturday 30. The day was clear and pleasant, the wind N.W. and the ice

running in great quantities. All our Indian presents were again exposed

to the air, and the barge made ready to descend the Missouri.

Monday 31. Early this morning it rained, and the weather continued

cloudy during the day; the river rose nine inches, the ice not running

so much as yesterday. Several flocks of geese and ducks fly up the

river.

Monday, April 1, 1805. This morning there was a thunder storm,

accompanied with large hail, to which succeeded rain for about half an

hour. We availed ourselves of this interval to get all the boats in the

water. At four o'clock P.M. it began to rain a second time, and

continued till twelve at night. With the exception of a few drops at two

or three different times, this is the first rain we have had since the

15th of October last.

Tuesday 2. The wind was high last night and this morning from N.W. and

the weather continued cloudy. The Mandans killed yesterday twenty-one

elk, about fifteen miles below, but they were so poor as to be scarcely

fit for use.

Wednesday 3. The weather is pleasant, though there was a white frost and

some ice on the edge of the water. We were all engaged in packing up our

baggage and merchandize.

Thursday 4. The day is clear and pleasant, though the wind is high from

N.W. We now packed up in different boxes a variety of articles for the

president, which we shall send in the barge. They consisted of a stuffed

male and female antelope with their skeletons, a weasel, three squirrels

from the Rocky mountains, the skeleton of the prairie wolf, those of the

white and gray hare, a male and female blaireau, or burrowing dog of the

prairie, with a skeleton of the female, two burrowing squirrels, a white

weasel, and the skin of the louservia, the horns of the mountain ram, or

big-horn, a pair of large elk horns, the horns and tail of the

black-tailed deer, and a variety of skins, such as those of the red fox,

white hare, martin, yellow bear obtained from the Sioux; also, a number

of articles of Indian dress, among which was a buffaloe robe,

representing a battle fought about eight years since between the Sioux

and Ricaras against the Mandans and Minnetarees, in which the combatants

are represented on horseback. It has of late years excited much

discussion to ascertain the period when the art of painting was first

discovered: how hopeless all researches of this kind are, is evident

from the foregoing fact. It is indebted for its origin to one of the

strongest passions of the human heart; a wish to preserve the features

of a departed friend, or the memory of some glorious exploit: this

inherits equally the bosoms of all men either civilized or savage. Such

sketches, rude and imperfect as they are, delineate the predominant

character of the savage nations. If they are peaceable and inoffensive,

the drawings usually consist of local scenery, and their favourite

diversions. If the band are rude and ferocious, we observe tomahawks,

scalpingknives, bows, arrows, and all the engines of destruction. A

Mandan bow and quiver of arrows; also some Ricara tobacco-seed and an

ear of Mandan corn; to these were added a box of plants, another of

insects, and three cases containing a burrowing squirrel; a prairie hen,

and four magpies, all alive.

Friday, 5th. Fair and pleasant, but the wind high from the northwest: we

were visited by a number of Mandans, and are occupied in loading our

boats in order to proceed on our journey.

Saturday, 6th. Another fine day with a gentle breeze from the south. The

Mandans continue to come to the fort; and in the course of the day

informed us of the arrival of a party of Ricaras on the other side of

the river. We sent our interpreter to inquire into their reason for

coming; and in the morning,

Sunday, 7th, he returned with a Ricara chief and three of his nation.

The chief, whose name is Kagohweto, or Brave Raven, brought a letter

from Mr. Tabeau, mentioning the wish of the grand chiefs of the Ricaras

to visit the president, and requesting permission for himself and four

men to join our boat when it descends; to which we consented, as it will

then be manned with fifteen hands and be able to defend itself against

the Sioux. After presenting the letter, he told us that he was sent with

ten warriors by his nation to arrange their settling near the Mandans

and Minnetarees, whom they wished to join; that he considered all the

neighboring nations friendly except the Sioux, whose persecution they

would no longer withstand, and whom they hoped to repel by uniting with

the tribes in this quarter: he added that the Ricaras intended to follow

our advice and live in peace with all nations, and requested that we

would speak in their favour to the Assiniboin Indians. This we willingly

promised to do, and assured them that their great father would protect

them and no longer suffer the Sioux to have good guns, or to injure his

dutiful children. We then gave him a small medal, a certificate of his

good conduct, a carrot of tobacco, and some wampum, with which he

departed for the Mandan village well satisfied with his reception.

Having made all our arrangements, we left the fort about five o'clock in

the afternoon. The party now consisted of thirty-two persons. Besides

ourselves were serjeants John Ordway, Nathaniel Pryor, and Patrick Gass:

the privates were William Bratton, John Colter, John Collins, Peter

Cruzatte, Robert Frazier, Reuben Fields, Joseph Fields, George Gibson,

Silas Goodrich, Hugh Hall, Thomas P. Howard, Baptiste Lapage, Francis

Labiche, Hugh M'Neal, John Potts, John Shields, George Shannon, John B.

Thompson, William Werner, Alexander Willard, Richard Windsor, Joseph

Whitehouse, Peter Wiser, and captain Clarke's black servant York. The

two interpreters, were George Drewyer and Toussaint Chaboneau. The wife

of Chaboneau also accompanied us with her young child, and we hope may

be useful as an interpreter among the Snake Indians. She was herself one

of that tribe, but having been taken in war by the Minnetarees, by whom

she was sold as a slave to Chaboneau, who brought her up and afterwards

married her. One of the Mandans likewise embarked with us, in order to

go to the Snake Indians and obtain a peace with them for his countrymen.

All this party with the baggage was stowed in six small canoes and two

large periogues. We left the fort with fair pleasant weather though the

northwest wind was high, and after making about four miles encamped on

the north side of the Missouri, nearly opposite the first Mandan

village. At the same time that we took our departure, our barge manned

with seven soldiers, two Frenchmen, and Mr. Gravelines as pilot, sailed

for the United States loaded with our presents and despatches.

Monday, 8th. The day was clear and cool, the wind from the northwest, so

that we travelled slowly. After breakfasting at the second Mandan

village we passed the Mahaha at the mouth of Knife river, a handsome

stream about eighty yards wide. Beyond this we reached the island which

captain Clarke had visited on the 30th October. This island has timber

as well as the lowlands on the north, but its distance from the water

had prevented our encamping there during the winter. From the head of

this island we made three and a half miles to a point of wood on the

north, passing a high bluff on the south, and having come about fourteen

miles. In the course of the day one of our boats filled and was near

sinking; we however saved her with the loss of a little biscuit and

powder.

Tuesday, April 9. We set off as soon as it was light, and proceeded five

miles to breakfast, passing a low ground on the south, covered with

groves of cottonwood timber. At the distance of six miles, we reached on

the north a hunting camp of Minnetarees consisting of thirty lodges, and

built in the usual form of earth and timber. Two miles and a quarter

farther, comes in on the same side Miry creek, a small stream about ten

yards wide, which, rising in some lakes near the Mouse river, passes

through beautiful level fertile plains without timber in a direction

nearly southwest; the banks near its entrance being steep, and rugged on

both sides of the Missouri. Three miles above this creek we came to a

hunting party of Minnetarees, who had prepared a park or inclosure and

were waiting the return of the antelope: this animal, which in the

autumn retires for food and shelter to the Black mountains during the

winter, recross the river at this season of the year, and spread

themselves through the plains on the north of the Missouri. We halted

and smoked a short time with them, and then proceeded on through

handsome plains on each side of the river, and encamped at the distance

of twenty-three and a half miles on the north side: the day was clear

and pleasant, the wind high from the south, but afterwards changed to a

western steady breeze. The bluffs which we passed to-day are upwards of

one hundred feet high, composed of a mixture of yellow clay and sand,

with many horizontal strata of carbonated wood resembling pit-coal, from

one to five feet in depth, and scattered through the bluff at different

elevations, some as high as eighty feet above the water: the hills along

the river are broken, and present every appearance of having been burned

at some former period; great quantities of pumicestone and lava or

rather earth, which seems to have been boiled and then hardened by

exposure, being seen in many parts of these hills where they are broken

and washed down into gullies by the rain and melting snow. A great

number of brants pass up the river: there are some of them perfectly

white, except the large feathers of the first and second joint of the

wing which are black, though in every other characteristic they resemble

common gray brant: we also saw but could not procure an animal that

burrows in the ground, and similar in every respect to the burrowing

squirrel, except that it is only one third of its size. This may be the

animal whose works we have often seen in the plains and prairies; they

resemble the labours of the salamander in the sand hills of South

Carolina and Georgia, and like him, the animals rarely come above

ground; they consist of a little hillock of ten or twelve pounds of

loose ground which would seem to have been reversed from a pot, though

no aperture is seen through which it could have been thrown: on removing

gently the earth, you discover that the soil has been broken in a circle

of about an inch and a half diameter, where the ground is looser though

still no opening is perceptible. When we stopped for dinner the squaw

went out, and after penetrating with a sharp stick the holes of the

mice, near some drift wood, brought to us a quantity of wild artichokes,

which the mice collect and hoard in large numbers; the root is white, of

an ovate form, from one to three inches long, and generally of the size

of a man's finger, and two, four, and sometimes six roots are attached

to a single stalk. Its flavour as well as the stalk which issues from it

resemble those of the Jerusalem artichoke, except that the latter is

much larger. A large beaver was caught in a trap last night, and the

musquitoes begin to trouble us.

Wednesday 10. We again set off early with clear pleasant weather, and

halted about ten for breakfast, above a sandbank which was falling in,

and near a small willow island. On both sides of the Missouri, after

ascending the hills near the water, one fertile unbroken plain extends

itself as far as the eye can reach, without a solitary tree or shrub,

except in moist situations or in the steep declivities of hills where

they are sheltered from the ravages of fire. At the distance of twelve

miles we reached the lower point of a bluff on the south; which is in

some parts on fire and throws out quantities of smoke which has a strong

sulphurous smell, the coal and other appearances in the bluffs being

like those described yesterday: at one o'clock we overtook three

Frenchmen who left the fort a few days before us, in order to make the

first attempt on this river of hunting beaver, which they do by means of

traps: their efforts promise to be successful for they have already

caught twelve which are finer than any we have ever seen: they mean to

accompany us as far as the Yellowstone river in order to obtain our

protection against the Assiniboins who might attack them. In the evening

we encamped on a willow point to the south opposite to a bluff, above

which a small creek falls in, and just above a remarkable bend in the

river to the southwest, which we called the Little Basin. The low

grounds which we passed to-day possess more timber than is usual, and

are wider: the current is moderate, at least not greater than that of

the Ohio in high tides; the banks too fall in but little; so that the

navigation comparatively with that lower down the Missouri is safe and

easy. We were enabled to make eighteen and a half miles: we saw the

track of a large white bear, there were also a herd of antelopes in the

plains; the geese and swan are now feeding in considerable quantities on

the young grass in the low prairies; we shot a prairie hen, and a bald

eagle of which there were many nests in the tall cottonwood trees; but

could procure neither of two elk which were in the plain. Our old

companions the musquitoes have renewed their visit, and gave us much

uneasiness.

Thursday, 11th. We set out at daylight, and after passing bare and

barren hills on the south, and a plain covered with timber on the north,

breakfasted at five miles distance: here we were regaled with a deer

brought in by the hunters, which was very acceptable as we had been for

several days without fresh meat; the country between this and fort

Mandan being so frequently disturbed by hunters that the game has become

scarce. We then proceeded with a gentle breeze from the south which

carried the periogues on very well; the day was however so warm that

several of the men worked with no clothes except round the waist, which

is the less inconvenient as we are obliged to wade in some places owing

to the shallowness of the river. At seven miles we reached a large

sandbar making out from the north. We again stopped for dinner, after

which we went on to a small plain on the north covered with cottonwood

where we encamped, having made nineteen miles. The country around is

much the same as that we passed yesterday: on the sides of the hills,

and even on the banks of the rivers, as well as on the sandbars, is a

white substance which appears in considerable quantities on the surface

of the earth, and tastes like a mixture of common salt with glauber

salts: many of the streams which come from the foot of the hills, are so

strongly impregnated with this substance, that the water has an

unpleasant taste and a purgative effect. A beaver was caught last night

by one of the Frenchmen; we killed two geese, and saw some cranes, the

largest bird of that kind common to the Missouri and Mississippi, and

perfectly white except the large feathers on the two first joints of the

wing which are black. Under a bluff opposite to our encampment we

discovered some Indians with horses, whom we supposed were Minnetarees,

but the width of the river prevented our speaking to them.

Friday, 12th. We set off early and passed a high range of hills on the

south side, our periogues being obliged to go over to the south in order

to avoid a sandbank which was rapidly falling in. At six miles we came

to at the lower side of the entrance of the Little Missouri, where we

remained during the day for the purpose of making celestial

observations. This river empties itself on the south side of the

Missouri, one thousand six hundred and ninety-three miles from its

confluence with the Mississippi. It rises to the west of the Black

mountains, across the northern extremity of which it finds a narrow

rapid passage along high perpendicular banks, then seeks the Missouri in

a northeastern direction, through a broken country with highlands bare

of timber, and the low grounds particularly supplied with cottonwood,

elm, small ash, box, alder, and an undergrowth of willow, redwood,

sometimes called red or swamp-willow, the redberry and chokecherry. In

its course it passes near the northwest side of the Turtle mountain,

which is said to be only twelve or fifteen miles from its mouth in a

straight line a little to the south of west, so that both the Little

Missouri and Knife river have been laid down too far southwest. It

enters the Missouri with a bold current, and is one hundred and

thirty-four yards wide, but its greatest depth is two feet and a half,

and this joined to its rapidity and its sandbars, make the navigation

difficult except for canoes, which may ascend it for a considerable

distance. At the mouth, and as far as we could discern from the hills

between the two rivers about three miles from their junction, the

country is much broken, the soil consisting of a deep rich dark coloured

loam, intermixed with a small proportion of fine sand and covered

generally with a short grass resembling blue grass. In its colour, the

nature of its bed, and its general appearance, it resembles so much the

Missouri as to induce a belief that the countries they water are similar

in point of soil. From the Mandan villages to this place the country is

hilly and irregular, with the same appearance of glauber salts and

carbonated wood, the low grounds smooth, sandy, and partially covered

with cottonwood and small ash; at some distance back there are extensive

plains of a good soil, but without timber or water.

We found great quantities of small onions which grow single, the bulb of

an oval form, white, about the size of a bullet with a leaf resembling

that of the chive. On the side of a neighbouring hill, there is a

species of dwarf cedar: it spreads its limbs along the surface of the

earth, which it almost conceals by its closeness and thickness, and is

sometimes covered by it, having always a number of roots on the under

side, while on the upper are a quantity of shoots which with their

leaves seldom rise higher than six or eight inches; it is an evergreen,

its leaf more delicate than that of the common cedar, though the taste

and smell is the same.

The country around has been so recently hunted that the game are

extremely shy, so that a white rabbit, two beaver, a deer, and a bald

eagle were all that we could procure. The weather had been clear, warm,

and pleasant in the morning, but about three we had a squall of high

wind and rain with some thunder, which lasted till after sunset when it

again cleared off.

Saturday 13. We set out at sunrise, and at nine o'clock having the wind

in our favour went on rapidly past a timbered low ground on the south,

and a creek on the north at the distance of nine miles, which we called

Onion creek, from the quantity of that plant which grows in the plains

near it: this creek is about sixteen yards wide at a mile and a half

above its mouth, it discharges more water than is usual for creeks of

that size in this country, but the whole plain which it waters is

totally destitute of timber. The Missouri itself widens very remarkably

just above the junction with the Little Missouri: immediately at the

entrance of the latter, it is not more than two hundred yards wide, and

so shallow that it may be passed in canoes with setting poles, while a

few miles above it is upwards of a mile in width: ten miles beyond Onion

creek we came to another, discharging itself on the north in the centre

of a deep bend: on ascending it for about a mile and a half, we found it

to be the discharge of a pond or small lake, which seemed to have been

once the bed of the Missouri: near this lake were the remains of

forty-three temporary lodges which seem to belong to the Assiniboins,

who are now on the river of the same name. A great number of swan and

geese were also in it, and from this circumstance we named the creek

Goose creek, and the lake by the same name: these geese we observe do

not build their nests on the ground or in sandbars, but in the tops of

lofty cottonwood trees: we saw some elk and buffaloe to-day but at too

great a distance to obtain any of them, though a number of the carcases

of the latter animal are strewed along the shores, having fallen through

the ice, and been swept along when the river broke up. More bald eagles

are seen on this part of the Missouri than we have previously met with;

the small or common hawk, common in most parts of the United States, are

also found here: great quantities of geese are feeding in the prairies,

and one flock of white brant or goose with black wings, and some gray

brant with them pass up river, and from their flight they seem to

proceed much farther to the northwest. We killed two antelopes which

were very lean, and caught last night two beaver: the French hunters who

had procured seven, thinking the neighborhood of the Little Missouri a

convenient hunting ground for that animal, remained behind there: in

the evening we encamped in a beautiful plain on the north thirty feet

above the river, having made twenty-two and a half miles.

Sunday 14. We set off early with pleasant and fair weather: a dog joined

us, which we suppose had strayed from the Assiniboin camp on the lake.

At two and a half miles we passed timbered low grounds and a small

creek: in these low grounds are several uninhabited lodges built with

the boughs of the elm, and the remains of two recent encampments, which

from the hoops of small kegs found in them we judged could belong to

Assiniboins only, as they are the only Missouri Indians who use

spirituous liquors: of these they are so passionately fond that it forms

their chief inducement to visit the British on the Assiniboin, to whom

they barter for kegs of rum their dried and pounded meat, their grease,

and the skins of large and small wolves, and small foxes. The dangerous

exchange is transported to their camps with their friends and relations,

and soon exhausted in brutal intoxication: so far from considering

drunkenness as disgraceful, the women and children are permitted and

invited to share in these excesses with their husbands and fathers, who

boast how often their skill and industry as hunters has supplied them

with the means of intoxication: in this, as in their other habits and

customs, they resemble the Sioux from whom they are descended: the trade

with the Assiniboins and Knistenaux is encouraged by the British,

because it procures provision for their _engages_ on their return from

Rainy lake to the English river and the Athabasky country where they

winter; these men being obliged during that voyage to pass rapidly

through a country but scantily supplied with game. We halted for dinner

near a large village of burrowing squirrels, who we observe generally

select a southeasterly exposure, though they are sometimes found in the

plains. At ten and a quarter miles we came to the lower point of an

island, which from the day of our arrival there we called Sunday

island: here the river washes the bases of the hills on both sides and

above the island, which with its sandbar extends a mile and a half: two

small creeks fall in from the south; the uppermost of these, which is

the largest, we called Chaboneau's creek, after our interpreter who once

encamped on it several weeks with a party of Indians. Beyond this no

white man had ever been except two Frenchmen, one of whom Lapage is with

us, and who having lost their way straggled a few miles further, though

to what point we could not ascertain: about a mile and a half beyond

this island we encamped on a point of woodland on the north, having made

in all fourteen miles.

The Assiniboins have so recently left the river that game is scarce and

shy. One of the hunters shot at an otter last evening; a buffaloe too

was killed, and an elk, both so poor as to be almost unfit for use; two

white bear were also seen, and a muskrat swimming across the river. The

river continues wide and of about the same rapidity as the ordinary

current of the Ohio. The low grounds are wide, the moister parts

containing timber, the upland extremely broken, without wood, and in

some places seem as if they had slipped down in masses of several acres

in surface. The mineral appearances of salts, coal, and sulphur, with

the burnt hill and pumicestone continue, and a bituminous water about

the colour of strong lye, with the taste of glauber salts and a slight

tincture of allum. Many geese were feeding in the prairies, and a number

of magpies who build their nest much like those of the blackbird in

trees, and composed of small sticks, leaves and grass, open at top: the

egg is of a bluish brown color, freckled with reddish brown spots. We

also killed a large hooting owl resembling that of the United States,

except that it was more booted and clad with feathers. On the hills are

many aromatic herbs, resembling in taste, smell and appearance the sage,

hysop, wormwood, southern wood, juniper and dwarf cedar; a plant also

about two or three feet high, similar to the camphor in smell and

taste, and another plant of the same size, with a long, narrow, smooth,

soft leaf, of an agreeable smell and flavour, which is a favourite food

of the antelope, whose necks are often perfumed by rubbing against it.

Monday 15. We proceeded under a fine breeze from the south, and clear

pleasant weather. At seven miles we reached the lower point of an island

in a bend to the south, which is two miles in length. Captain Clarke,

who went about nine miles northward from the river reached the high

grounds, which, like those we have seen, are level plains without

timber; here he observed a number of drains, which descending from the

hills pursue a northeast course, and probably empty into the Mouse

river, a branch of the Assiniboin, which from Indian accounts approaches

very near to the Missouri at this place. Like all the rivulets of this

neighbourhood these drains were so strongly impregnated with mineral

salts that they are not fit to drink. He saw also the remains of several

camps of Assiniboins; the low grounds on both sides of the river are

extensive, rich, and level. In a little pond on the north, we heard for

the first time this season the croaking of frogs, which exactly

resembles that of the small frogs in the United States: there are also

in these plains great quantities of geese, and many of the grouse, or

prairie hen, as they are called by the N.W. company traders; the note of

the male, as far as words can represent it, is cook, cook, cook, coo,

coo, coo, the first part of which both male and female use when flying;

the male too drums with his wings when he flies in the same way, though

not so loud as the pheasant; they appear to be mating. Some deer, elk,

and goats were in the low grounds, and buffaloe on the sand beaches, but

they were uncommonly shy; we also saw a black bear, and two white ones.

At fifteen miles we passed on the north side a small creek twenty yards

wide, which we called Goatpen creek, from a park or enclosure for the

purpose of catching that animal, which those who went up the creek

found, and which we presume to have been left by the Assiniboins. Its

water is impregnated with mineral salts, and the country through which

it flows consists of wide and very fertile plains, but without any

trees. We encamped at the distance of twenty-three miles, on a sandpoint

to the south; we passed in the evening a rock in the middle of the

river, the channel of which a little above our camp, is confined within

eighty yards.

Tuesday 16. The morning was clear, the wind light from the S.E. The

country presents the same appearance of low plains and meadows on the

river, bounded a few miles back by broken hills, which end in high level

fertile lands, the quantity of timber is however increasing. The

appearance of minerals continues as usual, and to-day we found several

stones which seemed to have been wood, first carbonated and then

petrified by the water of the Missouri, which has the same effect on

many vegetable substances. There is indeed reason to believe that the

strata of coal in the hills cause the fire and appearances which they

exhibit of being burned. Whenever these marks present themselves in the

bluffs on the river, the coal is seldom seen, and when found in the

neighborhood of the strata of burnt earth, the coal with the sand and

sulphurous matter usually accompanying it, is precisely at the same

height and nearly of the same thickness with those strata. We passed

three small creeks or rather runs, which rise in the hills to the north.

Numbers of geese, and few ducks chiefly of the mallard and bluewinged

teal, many buffaloe, elk and deer were also observed, and in the

timbered low grounds this morning we were surprised to observe a great

quantity of old hornets' nests: we encamped in a point of woods on the

south, having come eighteen miles, though the circuits which we were

obliged to make around sandbars very much increased the real distance.

Wednesday, April 17. We set off early, the weather being fine, and the

wind so favourable as to enable us to sail the greater part of the

course. At ten and three quarter miles we passed a creek ten yards wide

on the south; at eighteen miles a little run on the north, and at night

encamped in a woody point on the south. We had travelled twenty-six

miles through a country similar to that of yesterday, except that there

were greater appearances of burnt hills, furnishing large quantities of

lava and pumicestone, of the last of which we observe some pieces

floating down the river, as we had previously done, as low as the Little

Missouri. In all the copses of wood are the remains of the Assiniboin

encampments; around us are great quantities of game, such as herds of

buffaloe, elk, antelopes, some deer and wolves, the tracks of bears, a

curlue was also seen, and we obtained three beaver, the flesh of which

is more relished by the men than any other food which we have. Just

before we encamped we saw some tracks of Indians, who had passed

twenty-four hours before, and left four rafts, and whom we supposed to

be a band of Assiniboins on their return from war against the Indians on

the Rocky mountains.

Thursday 18. We had again a pleasant day, and proceeded on with a

westerly wind, which however changed to N.W. and blew so hard that we

were obliged to stop at one o'clock and remain four hours, when it

abated and we then continued our course.

We encamped about dark on a woody bank having made thirteen miles. The

country presented the usual variety of highlands interspersed with rich

plains. In one of these we observed a species of pea bearing a yellow

flower, which is now in blossom, the leaf and stalk resembling the

common pea. It seldom rises higher than six inches, and the root is

perennial. On the rose bushes we also saw a quantity of the hair of the

buffaloe, which had become perfectly white by exposure, and resembled

the wool of the sheep, except that it was much finer and more soft and

silky. A buffaloe which we killed yesterday had shed his long hair, and

that which remained was about two inches long, thick, fine, and would

have furnished five pounds of wool, of which we have no doubt an

excellent cloth may be made. Our game to-day was a beaver, a deer, an

elk, and some geese. The river has been crooked all day and bearing

towards the south.

On the hills we observed considerable quantities of dwarf juniper, which

seldom grows higher than three feet. We killed in the course of the day

an elk, three geese and a beaver. The beaver on this part of the

Missouri are in greater quantities, larger and fatter, and their fur is

more abundant and of a darker colour than any we had hitherto seen:

their favourite food seems to be the bark of the cottonwood and willow,

as we have seen no other species of tree that has been touched by them,

and these they gnaw to the ground through a diameter of twenty inches.

The next day, Friday, 19th, the wind was so high from northwest that we

could not proceed, but being less violent on

Saturday, 20th, we set off about seven o'clock, and had nearly lost one

of the canoes as we left the shore, by the falling in of a large part of

the bank. The wind too became again so strong that we could scarcely

make one mile an hour, and the sudden squalls so dangerous to the small

boats, that we stopped for the night among some willows on the north,

not being able to advance more than six and a half miles. In walking

through the neighbouring plains we found a fine fertile soil covered

with cottonwood, some box, alder, ash, red elm, and an undergrowth of

willow, rosebushes, honeysuckle, red willow, gooseberry, currant, and

serviceberries, and along the foot of the hills great quantities of

hysop. Our hunters procured elk and deer which are now lean, and six

beaver which are fatter and more palatable. Along the plain there were

also some Indian camps; near one of these was a scaffold about seven

feet high, on which were two sleds with their harness, and under it the

body of a female, carefully wrapped in several dressed buffaloe skins;

near it lay a bag made of buffaloe skin, containing a pair of moccasins,

some red and blue paint, beaver's nails, scrapers for dressing hides,

some dried roots, several plaits of sweet grass, and a small quantity of

Mandan tobacco. These things as well as the body itself had probably

fallen down by accident, as the custom is to place them on the scaffold.

At a little distance was the body of a dog not yet decayed, who had met

this reward for having dragged thus far in the sled the corpse of his

mistress, to whom according to the Indian usage he had been sacrificed.

Sunday, 21st. Last night there was a hard white frost, and this morning

the weather cold, but clear and pleasant: in the course of the day

however it became cloudy and the wind rose. The country is of the same

description as within the few last days. We saw immense quantities of

buffaloe, elk, deer, antelopes, geese, and some swan and ducks, out of

which we procured three deer, four buffaloe calves, which last are equal

in flavour to the most delicious veal; also two beaver, and an otter. We

passed one large and two small creeks on the south side, and reached at

sixteen miles the mouth of Whiteearth river, coming in from the north.

This river before it reaches the low grounds near the Missouri, is a

fine bold stream sixty yards wide, and is deep and navigable, but it is

so much choked up at the entrance by the mud of the Missouri, that its

mouth is not more than ten yards wide. Its course, as far as we could

discern from the neighbouring hills, is nearly due north, passing

through a beautiful and fertile valley, though without a tree or bush of

any description. Half a mile beyond this river we encamped on the same

side below a point of highland, which from its appearance we call Cut

bluff.

Monday, 22d. The day clear and cold: we passed a high bluff on the north

and plains on the south, in which were large herds of buffaloe, till

breakfast, when the wind became so strong ahead that we proceeded with

difficulty even with the aid of the towline. Some of the party now

walked across to the Whiteearth river, which here at the distance of

four miles from its mouth approaches very near to the Missouri. It

contains more water than is usual in streams of the same size at this

season, with steep banks about ten or twelve feet high, and the water is

much clearer than that of the Missouri; the salts which have been

mentioned as common on the Missouri, are here so abundant that in many

places the ground appears perfectly white, and from this circumstance it

may have derived its name; it waters an open country and is navigable

almost to its source, which is not far from the Saskaskawan, and judging

from its size and course, it is probable that it extends as far north as

the fiftieth degree of latitude. After much delay in consequence of the

high wind, we succeeded in making eleven miles, and encamped in a low

ground on the south covered with cottonwood and rabbitberries. The hills

of the Missouri near this place exhibit large irregular broken masses of

rocks and stones, some of which, although two hundred feet above the

water, seem at some remote period to have been subject to its influence,

being apparently worn smooth by the agitation of the water. These rocks

and stones consist of white and gray granite, a brittle black rock,

flint, limestone, freestone, some small specimens of an excellent

pebble, and occasionally broken stratas of a black coloured stone like

petrified wood, which make good whetstones. The usual appearances of

coal, or carbonated wood, and pumicestone still continue, the coal being

of a better quality and when burnt affords a hot and lasting fire,

emitting very little smoke or flame. There are huge herds of deer, elk,

buffaloe, and antelopes in view of us: the buffaloe are not so shy as

the rest, for they suffer us to approach within one hundred yards before

they run, and then stop and resume their pasture at a very short

distance. The wolves to-day pursued a herd of them, and at length caught

a calf that was unable to keep up with the rest; the mothers on these

occasions defending their young as long as they can retreat as fast as

the herd, but seldom returning any distance to seek for them.

Tuesday 23. A clear and pleasant morning, but at nine o'clock the wind

became so high that the boats were in danger of upsetting; we therefore

were forced to stop at a place of safety till about five in the

afternoon, when the wind being lower we proceeded and encamped on the

north at the distance of thirteen and a half miles: the party on shore

brought us a buffaloe calf and three blacktailed deer: the sand on the

river has the same appearances as usual, except that the quantity of

wood increases.

Wednesday 24. The wind blew so high during the whole day that we were

unable to move; such indeed was its violence, that although we were

sheltered by high timber the waves wet many articles in the boats: the

hunters went out and returned with four deer, two elk, and some young

wolves of the small kind. The party are very much afflicted with sore

eyes, which we presume are occasioned by the vast quantities of sand

which are driven from the sandbars in such clouds as often to hide from

us the view of the opposite bank. The particles of this sand are so fine

and light that it floats for miles in the air like a column of thick

smoke, and is so penetrating that nothing can be kept free from it, and

we are compelled to eat, drink, and breathe it very copiously. To the

same cause we attribute the disorder of one of our watches, although her

cases are double and tight; since without any defect in its works, that

we can discover, it will not run for more than a few minutes without

stopping.

Thursday 25. The wind moderated this morning, but was still high; we

therefore set out early, the weather being so cold that the water froze

on the oars as we rowed, and about ten o'clock the wind increased so

much that we were obliged to stop. This detention from the wind and the

reports from our hunters of the crookedness of the river, induced us to

believe that we were at no great distance from the Yellowstone river. In

order therefore to prevent delay as much as possible, captain Lewis

determined to go on by land in search of that river, and make the

necessary observations, so as to be enabled to proceed on immediately

after the boats should join him; he therefore landed about eleven

o'clock on the south side, accompanied by four men; the boats were

prevented from going until five in the afternoon, when they went on a

few miles further and encamped for the night at the distance of fourteen

and a half miles.

Friday 26. We continued our voyage in the morning and by twelve o'clock

encamped at eight miles distance, at the junction of the Missouri and

Yellowstone rivers; where we were soon joined by captain Lewis.

On leaving us yesterday he pursued his route along the foot of the

hills, which he ascended at the distance of eight miles; from these the

wide plains watered by the Missouri and the Yellowstone spread

themselves before the eye, occasionally varied with the wood of the

banks, enlivened by the irregular windings of the two rivers, and

animated by vast herds of buffaloe, deer, elk, and antelope. The

confluence of the two rivers was concealed by the wood, but the

Yellowstone itself was only two miles distant to the south. He therefore

descended the hills and encamped on the bank of the river, having killed

as he crossed the plain four buffaloes; the deer alone are shy and

retire to the woods, but the elk, antelope, and buffaloe suffered him to

approach them without alarm, and often followed him quietly for some

distance. This morning he sent a man up the river to examine it, while

he proceeded down to the junction: the ground on the lower side of the

Yellowstone near its mouth, is flat, and for about a mile seems to be

subject to inundation, while that at the point or junction, as well as

on the opposite side of the Missouri, is at the usual height of ten or

eighteen feet above the water, and therefore not overflown. There is

more timber in the neighbourhood of this place, and on the Missouri, as

far below as the Whiteearth river, than on any other part of the

Missouri on this side of the Chayenne: the timber consists principally

of cottonwood, with some small elm, ash, and box alder. On the sandbars

and along the margin of the river grows the small-leafed willow; in the

low grounds adjoining are scattered rosebushes three or four feet high,

the redberry, serviceberry and redwood. The higher plains are either

immediately on the river, in which case they are generally timbered, and

have an undergrowth like that of the low grounds, with the addition of

the broad-leafed willow, gooseberry, chokecherry, purple currant, and

honeysuckle; or they are between the low grounds and the hills, and for

the most part without wood or any thing except large quantities of wild

hysop; this plant rises about two feet high, and like the willow of the

sandbars is a favourite food of the buffaloe, elk, deer, grouse,

porcupine, hare, and rabbit. This river which had been known to the

French as the Roche jaune, or as we have called it the Yellowstone,

rises according to Indian information in the Rocky mountains; its

sources are near those of the Missouri and the Platte, and it may be

navigated in canoes almost to its head. It runs first through a

mountainous country, but in many parts fertile and well timbered; it

then waters a rich delightful land, broken into vallies and meadows, and

well supplied with wood and water till it reaches near the Missouri open

meadows and low grounds, sufficiently timbered on its borders. In the

upper country its course is represented as very rapid, but during the

two last and largest portions, its current is much more gentle than that

of the Missouri, which it resembles also in being turbid though with

less sediment. The man who was sent up the river, reported in the

evening that he had gone about eight miles, that during that distance

the river winds on both sides of a plain four or five miles wide, that

the current was gentle and much obstructed by sandbars, that at five

miles he had met with a large timbered island, three miles beyond which

a creek falls in on the S.E. above a high bluff, in which are several

strata of coal. The country as far as he could discern, resembled that

of the Missouri, and in the plain he met several of the bighorn animals,

but they were too shy to be obtained. The bed of the Yellowstone, as we

observed it near the mouth, is composed of sand and mud, without a stone

of any kind. Just above the confluence we measured the two rivers, and

found the bed of the Missouri five hundred and twenty yards wide, the

water occupying only three hundred and thirty, and the channel deep:

while the Yellowstone, including its sandbar, occupied eight hundred and

fifty-eight yards, with two hundred and ninety-seven yards of water: the

deepest part of the channel is twelve feet, but the river is now falling

and seems to be nearly at its summer height.

April 27. We left the mouth of the Yellowstone. From the point of

junction a wood occupies the space between the two rivers, which at the

distance of a mile comes within two hundred and fifty yards of each

other. There a beautiful low plain commences, and widening as the rivers

recede, extends along each of them for several miles, rising about half

a mile from the Missouri into a plain twelve feet higher than itself.

The low plain is a few inches above high water mark, and where it joins

the higher plain there is a channel of sixty or seventy yards in width,

through which a part of the Missouri when at its greatest height passes

into the Yellowstone. At two and a half miles above the junction and

between the high and low plain is a small lake, two hundred yards wide,

extending for a mile parallel with the Missouri along the edge of the

upper plain. At the lower extremity of this lake, about four hundred

yards from the Missouri, and twice that distance from the Yellowstone,

is a situation highly eligible for a trading establishment; it is in the

high plain which extends back three miles in width, and seven or eight

miles in length, along the Yellowstone, where it is bordered by an

extensive body of woodland, and along the Missouri with less breadth,

till three miles above it is circumscribed by the hills within a space

four yards in width. A sufficient quantity of limestone for building may

easily be procured near the junction of the rivers; it does not lie in

regular stratas, but is in large irregular masses, of a light colour and

apparently of an excellent quality. Game too is very abundant, and as

yet quite gentle; above all, its elevation recommends it as preferable

to the land at the confluence of the rivers, which their variable

channels may render very insecure. The N.W. wind rose so high at eleven

o'clock, that we were obliged to stop till about four in the afternoon,

when we proceeded till dusk. On the south a beautiful plain separates

the two rivers, till at about six miles there is a timbered piece of low

ground, and a little above it bluffs, where the country rises gradually

from the river; the situations on the north more high and open. We

encamped on that side, the wind, the sand which it raised, and the

rapidity of the current having prevented our advancing more than eight

miles; during the latter part of the day the river becomes wider and

crowded with sandbars: although the game is in such plenty we kill only

what is necessary for our subsistence. For several days past we have

seen great numbers of buffaloe lying dead along the shore, and some of

them partly devoured by the wolves; they have either sunk through the

ice during the winter, or been drowned in attempting to cross, or else,

after crossing to some high bluff, found themselves too much exhausted

either to ascend or swim back again, and perished for want of food; in

this situation we found several small parties of them. There are geese

too in abundance, and more bald-eagles than we have hitherto observed;

the nests of these last being always accompanied by those of two or

three magpies, who are their inseparable attendants.

CHAPTER VIII.

Unusual appearance of salt--The formidable character of the white

bear--Porcupine river described--Beautiful appearance of the

surrounding country--Immense quantities of game--Milk river

described--Extraordinary character of Bigdry river--An instance of

uncommon tenacity of life in a white bear--Narrow escape of one of

the party from that animal--A still more remarkable

instance--Muscleshell river described.

Sunday 28. The day was clear and pleasant, and the wind having shifted

to southeast, we could employ our sails, and went twenty-four miles to a

low ground on the north opposite to steep bluffs: the country on both

sides is much broken, the hills approaching nearer to the river, and

forming bluffs, some of a white and others of a red colour, and

exhibiting the usual appearances of minerals, and some burnt hills

though without any pumicestone; the salts are in greater quantities than

usual, and the banks and sandbars are covered with a white incrustation

like frost. The low grounds are level, fertile and partially timbered,

but are not so wide as for a few days past. The woods are now green, but

the plains and meadows seem to have less verdure than those below: the

only streams which we met to-day are two small runs on the north and one

on the south, which rise in the neighbouring hills, and have very little

water. At the distance of eighteen miles the Missouri makes a

considerable bend to the southeast: the game is very abundant, the

common, and mule or blacktailed deer, elk, buffaloe, antelope, brown

bear, beaver, and geese. The beaver have committed great devastation

among the trees, one of which, nearly three feet in diameter, has been

gnawed through by them.

Monday 29. We proceeded early with a moderate wind: captain Lewis who

was on shore with one hunter met about eight o'clock two white bears: of

the strength and ferocity of this animal, the Indians had given us

dreadful accounts: they never attack him but in parties of six or eight

persons, and even then are often defeated with the loss of one or more

of the party. Having no weapons but bows and arrows, and the bad guns

with which the traders supply them, they are obliged to approach very

near to the bear; and as no wound except through the head or heart is

mortal, they frequently fall a sacrifice if they miss their aim. He

rather attacks than avoids a man, and such is the terror which he has

inspired, that the Indians who go in quest of him paint themselves and

perform all the superstitious rites customary when they make war on a

neighbouring nation. Hitherto those we had seen did not appear desirous

of encountering us, but although to a skilful rifleman the danger is

very much diminished, yet the white bear is still a terrible animal: on

approaching these two, both captain Lewis and the hunter fired and each

wounded a bear: one of them made his escape; the other turned upon

captain Lewis and pursued him seventy or eighty yards, but being badly

wounded he could not run so fast as to prevent him from reloading his

piece, which he again aimed at him, and a third shot from the hunter

brought him to the ground: he was a male not quite full grown, and

weighed about three hundred pounds: the legs are somewhat longer than

those of the black bear, and the talons and tusks much larger and

longer. The testicles are also placed much farther forward and suspended

in separate pouches from two to four inches asunder, while those of the

black bear are situated back between the thighs and in a single pouch

like those of the dog: its colour is a yellowish brown, the eyes small,

black, and piercing, the front of the fore legs near the feet is usually

black, and the fur is finer, thicker, and deeper than that of the black

bear: add to which, it is a more furious animal, and very remarkable for

the wounds which it will bear without dying.

We are surrounded with deer, elk, buffaloe, antelopes, and their

companions the wolves, who have become more numerous and make great

ravages among them: the hills are here much more rough and high, and

almost overhang the banks of the river. There are greater appearances of

coal than we have hitherto seen, the stratas of it being in some places

six feet thick, and there are stratas of burnt earth, which are always

on the same level with those of coal. In the evening after coming

twenty-five miles we encamped at the entrance of a river which empties

itself into a bend on the north side of the Missouri: this stream which

we called Martha's river, is about fifty yards wide, with water for

fifteen yards, the banks are of earth, and steep, though not high, and

the bed principally of mud. Captain Clarke, who ascended it for three

miles, found that it continued of the same width with a gentle current,

and pursuing its course about north 30° west, through an extensive,

fertile, and beautiful valley, but without a single tree. The water is

clear, and has a brownish yellow tint; at this place the highlands which

yesterday and to-day had approached so near the river became lower, and

receding from the water left a valley seven or eight miles wide.

Tuesday 30. The wind was high from the north during last evening and

continued so this morning: we however continued, and found the river

more winding than usual and with a number of sand islands and bars, on

one of which last we encamped at the distance of twenty-four miles. The

low grounds are fertile and extensive but with very little timber, and

that cottonwood, very bad of its kind, being too small for planks, and

broken and dead at the top and unsound in the centre of the trunk. We

passed some ancient lodges of driftwood which do not appear to have been

lately inhabited. The game continues abundant: we killed the largest

male elk we have yet seen; on placing it in its natural erect position,

we found that it measured five feet three inches from the point of the

hoof to the top of the shoulder. The antelopes are yet lean and the

females are with young: this fleet and quick-sighted animal is generally

the victim of its curiosity: when they first see the hunters they run

with great velocity; if he lies down on the ground and lifts up his arm,

his hat, or his foot, the antelope returns on a light trot to look at

the object, and sometimes goes and returns two or three times till they

approach within reach of the rifle; so too they sometimes leave their

flock to go and look at the wolves who crouch down, and if the antelope

be frightened at first repeat the same manoeuvre, and sometimes relieve

each other till they decoy it from the party when they seize it. But

generally the wolves take them as they are crossing the rivers, for

although swift of foot they are not good swimmers.

Wednesday, May 1. The wind was in our favour and we were enabled to use

the sails till twelve o'clock, when the wind became so high and squally

that we were forced to come to at the distance of ten miles on the

south, in a low ground stocked with cottonwood, and remain there during

the day; one of the canoes being separated from us, and not able to

cross over in consequence of the high waves. The country around is more

pleasant than that through which we had passed for several days, the

hills being lower, the low grounds wider and better supplied with

timber, which consists principally of cottonwood: the undergrowth willow

on the banks and sandbars, rosebushes, redwillow, and the broad-leafed

willow in the low plains, while the high country on both sides is one

extensive plain without wood, though the soil is a dark, rich, mellow

loam. Our hunters killed a buffaloe, an elk, a goat, and two beaver, and

also a bird of the plover kind.

Thursday, 2d. The wind continued high during the night, and at daylight

it began to snow and did not stop till ten o'clock, when the ground was

covered an inch deep, forming a striking contrast with the vegetation

which is now considerably advanced; some flowers having put forth, and

the cottonwood leaves as large as a dollar. The wind lulled about five

o'clock in the afternoon, and we then proceeded along wide fertile low

grounds and high level plains, and encamped at the distance of four

miles. Our game to-day was deer, elk, and buffaloe: we also procured

three beaver who are quite gentle, as they have not been hunted, but

when the hunters are in pursuit they never leave their huts during the

day: this animal we esteem a great delicacy, particularly the tail,

which when boiled resembles in flavor the flesh tongues and sounds of

the codfish, and is generally so large as to afford a plentiful meal for

two men. One of the hunters in passing near an old Indian camp found

several yards of scarlet cloth, suspended on the bough of a tree as a

sacrifice to the deity by the Assiniboins: the custom of making these

offerings being common among that people as indeed among all the Indians

on the Missouri. The air was sharp this evening; the water froze on the

oars as we rowed, and in the morning.

Friday, 3d, the weather became quite cold, the ice was a quarter of an

inch thick in the kettle, and the snow still continued on the hills

though it has melted from the plains. The wind too continued high from

the west, but not so violently as to prevent our going on. At two miles

from our encampment we passed a curious collection of bushes about

thirty feet high and ten or twelve in diameter, tied in the form of a

fascine and standing on end in the middle of the low ground: this too we

supposed to have been left by the Indians as a religious sacrifice: at

twelve o'clock the usual hour we halted for dinner. The low grounds on

the river are much wider than common, sometimes extending from five to

nine miles to the highlands, which are much lower than heretofore, not

being more than fifty or sixty feet above the lower plain: through all

this valley traces of the ancient bed of the river are every where

visible, and since the hills have become lower, the stratas of coal,

burnt earth, and pumicestone have in a great measure ceased, there

being in fact none to-day. At the distance of fourteen miles we reached

the mouth of a river on the north, which from the unusual number of

porcupines near it, we called Porcupine river. This is a bold and

beautiful stream one hundred and twelve yards wide, though the water is

only forty yards at its entrance: captain Clarke who ascended it several

miles and passed it above where it enters the highlands, found it

continued nearly of the same width and about knee deep, and as far as he

could distinguish for twenty miles from the hills, its course was from a

little to the east of north. There was much timber on the low grounds:

he found some limestone also on the surface of the earth in the course

of his walk, and saw a range of low mountains at a distance to the west

of north, whose direction was northwest; the adjoining country being

every where level, fertile, open, and exceedingly beautiful. The water

of this river is transparent, and is the only one that is so of all

those that fall into the Missouri: before entering a large sandbar

through which it discharges itself, its low grounds are formed of a

stiff blue and black clay, and its banks which are from eight to ten

feet high and seldom if ever overflow are composed of the same

materials. From the quantity of water which this river contains, its

direction, and the nature of the country through which it passes, it is

not improbable that its sources may be near the main body of the

Saskaskawan, and as in high water it can be no doubt navigated to a

considerable distance, it may be rendered the means of intercourse with

the Athabasky country, from which the northwest company derive so many

of their valuable furs.

A quarter of a mile beyond this river a creek falls in on the south, to

which on account of its distance from the mouth of the Missouri, we gave

it the name of Two-thousand mile creek: it is a bold stream with a bed

thirty yards wide. Three miles and a half above Porcupine river, we

reached some high timber on the north, and encamped just above an old

channel of the river, which is now dry. We saw vast quantities of

buffaloe, elk, deer, principally of the long tailed kind, antelopes,

beaver, geese, ducks, brant, and some swan. The porcupines too are

numerous, and so careless and clumsy that we can approach very near

without disturbing them as they are feeding on the young willows;

towards evening we also found for the first time, the nest of a goose

among some driftwood, all that we have hitherto seen being on the top of

a broken tree on the forks, and invariably from fifteen to twenty feet

or more in height.

Saturday 4. We were detained till nine in order to repair the rudder of

one of the boats, and when we set out the wind was ahead; at six and a

half miles we passed a small creek in a deep bend on the south with a

sand island opposite to it, and then passing along an extensive plain

which gradually rises from the north side of the river, encamped at the

distance of eighteen miles in a point of woodland on the north: the

river is this day wider than usual, and crowded with sandbars on all

sides: the country is level, fertile, and beautiful, the low grounds

extensive and contain a much greater portion of timber than is common:

indeed all the forepart of the day the river was bordered with timber on

both sides, a circumstance very rare on the Missouri, and the first that

has occurred since we left the Mandans. There are as usual vast

quantities of game, and extremely gentle; the male buffaloe particularly

will scarcely give way to us, and as we approach will merely look at us

for a moment, as something new, and then quietly resume their feeding.

In the course of the day we passed some old Indian hunting camps, one of

which consisted of two large lodges fortified with a circular fence,

twenty or thirty feet in diameter, and made of timber laid horizontally,

the beams overlaying each other to the height of five feet, and covered

with the trunks and limbs of trees that have drifted down the river: the

lodges themselves are formed by three or more strong sticks about the

size of a man's leg or arm, and twelve feet long, which are attached at

the top by a whith of small willows, and spreading out so as to form at

the base a circle of ten or fourteen feet in diameter: against these are

placed pieces of driftwood and fallen timber, usually in three ranges

one on the other, and the interstices are covered with leaves, bark, and

straw, so as to form a conical figure about ten feet high, with a small

aperture in one side for the door. It is, however, at best a very

imperfect shelter against the inclemencies of the seasons.

Sunday 5. We had a fine morning, and the wind being from the east we

used our sails. At the distance of five miles we came to a small island,

and twelve miles farther encamped on the north, at the distance of

seventeen miles. The country like that of yesterday is beautiful in the

extreme. Among the vast quantities of game around us, we distinguish a

small species of goose differing considerably from the common Canadian

goose; its neck, head, and beak, being much thicker, larger, and shorter

in proportion to its size, which is nearly a third smaller; the noise

too resembling more that of the brant or of a young goose that has not

yet fully acquired its note; in other respects its colour, habits, and

the number of feathers in the tail, the two species correspond; this

species also associates in flocks with the large geese, but we have not

seen it pair off with them. The white brant is about the size of the

common brown brant, or two thirds of the common goose, than which it is

also six inches shorter from the extremity of the wings, though the

beak, head, and neck are larger and stronger: the body and wings are of

a beautiful pure white, except the black feathers of the first and

second joints of the wings; the beak and legs are of a reddish or

flesh-coloured white, the eye of a moderate size, the pupil of a deep

sea-green incircled with a ring of yellowish brown, the tail consists of

sixteen feathers equally long, the flesh is dark and as well as its note

differs but little from those of the common brant, whom in form and

habits it resembles, and with whom it sometimes unites in a common

flock; the white brant also associate by themselves in large flocks, but

as they do not seem to be mated or paired off, it is doubtful whether

they reside here during the summer for the purpose of rearing their

young.

The wolves are also very abundant, and are of two species. First, the

small wolf or burrowing dog of the prairies, which are found in almost

all the open plains. It is of an intermediate size between the fox and

dog, very delicately formed, fleet and active. The ears are large,

erect, and pointed, the head long and pointed, like that of the fox; the

tail long and bushy; the hair and fur of a pale reddish brown colour,

though much coarser than that of the fox; the eye of a deep sea-green

colour, small and piercing; the talons rather longer than those of the

wolf of the Atlantic states, which animal as far as we can perceive is

not to be found on this side of the river Platte. These wolves usually

associate in bands of ten or twelve, and are rarely if ever seen alone,

not being able singly to attack a deer or antelope. They live and rear

their young in burrows, which they fix near some pass or spot much

frequented by game, and sally out in a body against any animal which

they think they can overpower, but on the slightest alarm retreat to

their burrows making a noise exactly like that of a small dog.

The second species is lower, shorter in the legs and thicker than the

Atlantic wolf; their colour, which is not affected by the seasons, is of

every variety of shade, from a gray or blackish brown to a cream

coloured white. They do not burrow, nor do they bark, but howl, and they

frequent the woods and plains, and skulk along the skirts of the

buffaloe herds, in order to attack the weary or wounded.

Captain Clarke and one of the hunters met this evening the largest brown

bear we have seen. As they fired he did not attempt to attack, but fled

with a most tremendous roar, and such was its extraordinary tenacity of

life, that although he had five balls passed through his lungs and five

other wounds, he swam more than half across the river to a sandbar, and

survived twenty minutes. He weighed between five and six hundred pounds

at least, and measured eight feet seven inches and a half from the nose

to the extremity of the hind feet, five feet ten inches and half round

the breast, three feet eleven inches round the neck, one foot eleven

inches round the middle of the foreleg, and his talons, five on each

foot, were four inches and three eighths in length. It differs from the

common black bear in having its talons much longer and more blunt; its

tail shorter; its hair of a reddish or bay brown, longer, finer, and

more abundant; his liver, lungs, and heart, much larger even in

proportion to his size, the heart particularly being equal to that of a

large ox; his maw ten times larger; his testicles pendant from the belly

and in separate pouches four inches apart: besides fish and flesh he

feeds on roots, and every kind of wild fruit.

The antelope are now lean and with young, so that they may readily be

caught at this season, as they cross the river from S.W. to N.E.

Monday 6. The morning being fair and the wind favourable, we set sail,

and proceeded on very well the greater part of the day. The country

continues level, rich, and beautiful; the low grounds wide and

comparatively with the other parts of the Missouri, well supplied with

wood. The appearances of coal, pumicestone, and burnt earth have ceased,

though the salts of tartar or vegetable salts continue on the banks and

sandbars, and sometimes in the little ravines at the base of the low

hills. We passed three streams on the south; the first at the distance

of one mile and a half from our camp was about twenty-five yards wide,

but although it contained some water in standing pools it discharges

none; this we called Littledry creek, about eight miles beyond which is

Bigdry creek; fifty yards wide, without any water; the third is six

miles further, and has the bed of a large river two hundred yards wide,

yet without a drop of water: like the other two this stream, which we

called Bigdry river, continues its width undiminished as far as we can

discern. The banks are low, this channel formed of a fine brown sand,

intermixed with a small proportion of little pebbles of various colours,

and the country around flat and without trees. They had recently

discharged their waters, and from their appearance and the nature of the

country through which they pass, we concluded that they rose in the

Black mountains, or in the level low plains which are probably between

this place and the mountains; that the country being nearly of the same

kind and of the same latitude, the rains of spring melting the snows

about the same time, conspire with them to throw at once vast quantities

of water down these channels, which are then left dry during the summer,

autumn, and winter, when there is very little rain. We had to-day a

slight sprinkling. But it lasted a very short time. The game is in such

plenty that it has become a mere amusement to supply the party with

provisions. We made twenty-five miles to a clump of trees on the north

where we passed the night.

Tuesday 7. The morning was pleasant and we proceeded at an early hour.

There is much driftwood floating, and what is contrary to our

expectation, although the river is rising, the water is somewhat clearer

than usual. At eleven o'clock the wind became so high that one of the

boats was nearly sunk, and we were obliged to stop till one, when we

proceeded on, and encamped on the south, above a large sandbar

projecting from the north, having made fifteen miles. On the north side

of the river are the most beautiful plains we have yet seen: they rise

gradually from the low grounds on the water to the height of fifty or

sixty feet, and then extend in an unbroken level as far as the eye can

reach: the hills on the south are more broken and higher, though at some

distance back the country becomes level and fertile. There are no more

appearances of burnt earth, coal, or pumicestone, though that of salt

still continues, and the vegetation seems to have advanced but little

since the twenty-eighth of last month: the game is as abundant as usual.

The bald-eagles, of whom we see great numbers, probably feed on the

carcases of dead animals, for on the whole Missouri we have seen neither

the blue-crested fisher, nor the fishing-hawks, to supply them with

their favourite food, and the water of the river is so turbid that no

bird which feeds exclusively on fish can procure a subsistence.

Wednesday 8. A light breeze from the east carried us sixteen miles, till

we halted for dinner at the entrance of a river on the north. Captain

Clarke who had walked on the south, on ascending a high point opposite

to its entrance discovered a level and beautiful country which it

watered; that its course for twelve or fifteen miles was N.W. when it

divided into two nearly equal branches, one pursuing a direction nearly

north, the other to the W. of N.W: its width at the entrance is one

hundred and fifty yards, and on going three miles up, captain Lewis

found it to be of the same breadth, and sometimes more; it is deep,

gentle, and has a large quantity of water; its bed is principally of

mud, the banks abrupt, about twelve feet in height, and formed of a

dark, rich loam and blue clay; the low grounds near it are wide and

fertile, and possess a considerable proportion of cottonwood and willow.

It seems to be navigable for boats and canoes, and this circumstance

joined to its course and the quantity of water, which indicates that it

passes through a large extent of country, we are led to presume that it

may approach the Saskashawan and afford a communication with that river.

The water has a peculiar whiteness, such as might be produced by a

tablespoon full of milk in a dish of tea, and this circumstance induced

us to call it Milk river. In the evening we had made twenty-seven miles,

and encamped on the south. The country on that side consists in general

of high broken hills, with much gray, black and brown granite scattered

over the surface of the ground. At a little distance from the river

there is no timber on either side, the wood being confined as below to

the margin of the river; so that unless the contrary is particularly

mentioned, it is always understood that the upland is perfectly naked,

and that we consider the low grounds well timbered if even a fifth be

covered with wood. The wild liquorice is found in great abundance on

these hills, as is also the white apple. As usual we are surrounded by

buffaloe, elk, common and blacktailed deer, beaver, antelopes and

wolves. We observed a place where an Indian had recently taken the hair

off an antelope's skin, and some of the party thought they distinguished

imperfectly some smoke and Indian lodges up Milk river, marks which we

are by no means desirous of realizing, as the Indians are probably

Assiniboins, and might be very troublesome.

Thursday, 9th. We again had a favourable wind and sailed along very

well. Between four and five miles we passed a large island in a deep

bend to the north, and a large sandbar at the upper point. At fifteen

and a quarter miles we reached the bed of a most extraordinary river

which presents itself on the south: though as wide as the Missouri

itself, that is about half a mile, it does not discharge a drop of water

and contains nothing but a few standing pools. On ascending it three

miles we found an eminence from which we saw the direction of the

channel, first south for ten or twelve miles, then turning to the east

of southeast as far as we could see; it passes through a wide valley

without timber, and the surrounding country consists of waving low hills

interspersed with some handsome level plains; the banks are abrupt and

consist of a black or yellow clay; or of a rich sandy loam, but though

they do not rise more than six or eight feet above the bed, they exhibit

no appearance of being overflowed: the bed is entirely composed of a

light brown sand, the particles of which like those of the Missouri are

extremely fine. Like the dry rivers we passed before, this seemed to

have discharged its waters recently, but the watermark indicated that

its greatest depth had not been more than two feet: this stream, if it

deserve the name, we called Bigdry river. About a mile below is a large

creek on the same side, which is also perfectly dry: the mineral salts

and quartz are in large quantities near this neighbourhood. The sand of

the Missouri from its mouth to this place has been mixed with a

substance which we had presumed to be a granulated chalk, but which is

most probably this quartz. The game is now in great quantities,

particularly the elk and buffaloe, which last is so gentle that the men

are obliged to drive them out of the way with sticks and stones. The

ravages of the beaver are very apparent: in one place the timber was

entirely prostrated for a space of three acres in front on the river and

one in depth, and great part of it removed, although the trees were in

large quantities, and some of them as thick as the body of a man. At the

distance of twenty-four miles we encamped, after making twenty-five and

a half miles, at the entrance of a small creek in a bend on the north;

to which we gave the name of Werner's creek after one of our men.

For several days past the river has been as wide as it generally is near

its mouth, but as it is much shallower, crowded with sandbars, and the

colour of the water has become much clearer, we do not yet despair of

reaching the Rock mountains, for which we are very anxious.

Friday, 10th. We had not proceeded more than four and a quarter miles

when the violence of the wind forced us to halt for the day under some

timber in a bend on the south side. The wind continued high, the clouds

thick and black, and we had a slight sprinkling of rain several times in

the course of the day. Shortly after our landing a dog came to us, and

as this induced us to believe that we are near the hunting grounds of

the Assiniboins, who are a vicious ill-disposed people, it was

necessary to be on our guard: we therefore inspected our arms which we

found in good order, and sent several hunters to scour the country, but

they returned in the evening having seen no tents, nor any recent tracks

of Indians. Biles and imposthumes are very common among the party, and

sore eyes continue in a greater or less degree with all of us; for the

imposthumes we use emollient poultices, and apply to the eyes a solution

of two grains of white vitriol and one of sugar of lead with one ounce

of water.

Saturday, 11th. The wind blew very hard in the night, but having abated

this morning we went on very well, till in the afternoon the wind arose

and retarded our progress; the current too was strong, the river very

crooked, and the banks as usual constantly precipitating themselves in

large masses into the water. The highlands are broken and approach

nearer the river than they do below. The soil however of both hills and

low grounds appear as fertile as that further down the river: it

consists of a black looking loam with a small portion of sand, which

cover the hills and bluffs to the depth of twenty or thirty feet, and

when thrown in the water dissolves as readily as loaf-sugar, and

effervesces like marle; there are also great appearances of quartz and

mineral salts: the first is most commonly seen in the faces of the

bluffs, the second is found on the hills as well as the low grounds, and

in the gullies which come down from the hills; it lies in a crust of two

or three inches in depth, and may be swept up with a feather in large

quantities. There is no longer any appearance of coal burnt earth or

pumicestone. We saw and visited some high hills on the north side about

three miles from the river, whose tops were covered with the pitch-pine:

this in the first pine we have seen on the Missouri, and it is like that

of Virginia, except that the leaves are somewhat longer; among this pine

is also a dwarf cedar, sometimes between three or four feet high, but

generally spreading itself like a vine along the surface of the earth,

which it covers very closely, putting out roots from the under side. The

fruit and smell resemble those of the common red cedar, but the leaf is

finer and more delicate. The tops of the hills where these plants grow

have a soil quite different from that just described, the basis of it is

usually yellow or white clay, and the general appearance light coloured,

sandy, and barren, some scattering tufts of sedge being almost its only

herbage. About five in the afternoon one of our men who had been

afflicted with biles, and suffered to walk on shore, came running to the

boats with loud cries and every symptom of terror and distress: for some

time after we had taken him on board he was so much out of breath as to

be unable to describe the cause of his anxiety, but he at length told us

that about a mile and a half below he had shot a brown bear which

immediately turned and was in close pursuit of him; but the bear being

badly wounded could not overtake him. Captain Lewis with seven men

immediately went in search of him, and having found his track followed

him by the blood for a mile, and found him concealed in some thick

brushwood, and shot him with two balls through the skull. Though

somewhat smaller than that killed a few days ago, he was a monstrous

animal and a most terrible enemy: our man had shot him through the

centre of the lungs, yet he had pursued him furiously for half a mile,

then returned more than twice that distance, and with his talons had

prepared himself a bed in the earth two feet deep and five feet long,

and was perfectly alive when they found him, which was at least two

hours after he received the wound. The wonderful power of life which

these animals possess render them dreadful: their very track in the mud

or sand, which we have sometimes found eleven inches long and seven and

a quarter wide, exclusive of the talons, is alarming; and we had rather

encounter two Indians than meet a single brown bear. There is no chance

of killing them by a single shot unless the ball goes through the

brains, and this is very difficult on account of two large muscles

which cover the side of the forehead, and the sharp projection of the

centre of the frontal bone, which is also thick. Our encampment was on

the south at the distance of sixteen miles from that of last night; the

fleece and skin of the bear were a heavy burden for two men, and the oil

amounted to eight gallons.

Sunday, 12th. The weather being clear and calm, we set out early. Within

a mile we came to a small creek, about twenty yards wide, emptying

itself on the south. At eleven and three quarter miles we reached a

point of woodland on the south, opposite to which is a creek of the same

width as the last, but with little water, which we called Pine creek. At

eighteen and three quarter miles we came to on the south opposite to the

lower point of a willow island, situated in a deep bend of the river to

the southeast: here we remained during the day, the wind having risen at

twelve so high that we could not proceed: it continued to blow violently

all night, with occasional sprinklings of rain from sunset till

midnight. On both sides of the river the country is rough and broken,

the low grounds becoming narrower; the tops of the hills on the north

exhibits some scattered pine and cedar, on the south the pine has not

yet commenced, though there is some cedar on the sides of the hills and

in the little ravines. The chokecherry, the wild hysop, sage,

fleshy-leafed thorn, and particularly the aromatic herb on which the

antelope and hare feed, are to be found on the plains and hills. The

soil of the hills has now altered its texture considerably: their bases,

like that of the river plains, is as usual a rich, black loam, while

from the middle to the summits they are composed of a light

brown-coloured earth, poor and sterile, and intermixed with a coarse

white sand.

Monday, 13th. The wind was so strong that we could not proceed till

about one o'clock, when we had to encounter a current rather stronger

than usual. In the course of a mile and a half we passed two small

creeks on the south, one of eighteen the other of thirty yards width,

but neither of them containing any water, and encamped on the south at a

point of woodland, having made only seven miles. The country is much the

same as yesterday, with little timber in the low grounds, and a small

quantity of pine and cedar on the northern hills. The river however

continues to grow clearer, and this as well as the increased rapidity

induces us to hope for some change of country. The game is as usual so

abundant that we can get without difficulty all that is necessary.

Tuesday, 14th. There was some fog on the river this morning, which is a

very rare occurrence. At the distance of a mile and a half we reached an

island in a bend on the north, which continued for about half a mile,

when at the head of it a large creek comes in on the north, to which we

gave the name of Gibson's creek. At seven and a half miles is a point of

rocks on the south, above a creek on the same side, which we called

Sticklodge creek: five miles further is a large creek on the south,

which like the two others has no running water; and at sixteen and a

half miles a timbered point on the north, where we encamped for the

night. The country is like that of yesterday, except that the low

grounds are wider; there are also many high black bluffs along the

banks: the game too is in great abundance. Towards evening the men in

the hindmost canoes discovered a large brown bear lying in the open

grounds, about three hundred paces from the river: six of them, all good

hunters, immediately went to attack him, and concealing themselves by a

small eminence came unperceived within forty paces of him: four of the

hunters now fired, and each lodged a ball in his body, two of them

directly through the lungs: the furious animal sprung up and ran

openmouthed upon them; as he came near, the two hunters who had reserved

their fire gave him two wounds, one of which breaking his shoulder

retarded his motion for a moment; but before they could reload he was so

near that they were obliged to run to the river, and before they

reached it he had almost overtaken them: two jumped into the canoe; the

other four separated, and concealing themselves in the willows fired as

fast as each could reload: they struck him several times, but instead of

weakening the monster each shot seemed only to direct him towards the

hunter, till at last he pursued two of them so closely, that they threw

aside their guns and pouches, and jumped down a perpendicular bank of

twenty feet into the river; the bear sprang after them, and was within a

few feet of the hindmost, when one of the hunters on shore shot him in

the head and finally killed him: they dragged him to the shore, and

found that eight balls had passed through him in different directions;

the bear was old and the meat tough, so that they took the skin only,

and rejoined us at camp, where we had been as much terrified by an

accident of a different kind. This was the narrow escape of one of our

canoes containing all our papers, instruments, medicine, and almost

every article indispensible for the success of our enterprise. The canoe

being under sail, a sudden squall of wind struck her obliquely, and

turned her considerably. The man at the helm, who was unluckily the

worst steersman of the party, became alarmed, and instead of putting her

before the wind luffed her up into it. The wind was so high that it

forced the brace of the squaresail out of the hand of the man who was

attending it, and instantly upset the canoe, which would have turned

bottom upwards but for the resistance made by the awning. Such was the

confusion on board, and the waves ran so high, that it was half a minute

before she righted, and then nearly full of water, but by baling out she

was kept from sinking until they rowed ashore; besides the loss of the

lives of three men who not being able to swim would probably have

perished, we should have been deprived of nearly every thing necessary

for our purpose, at a distance of between two and three thousand miles

from any place where we could supply the deficiency.

Wednesday 15. As soon as a slight shower of rain had passed, we spread

out the articles to dry; but the weather was so damp and cloudy that

they derived little benefit from exposure. Our hunters procured us deer,

buffaloe, and beaver.

Thursday 16. The morning was fair and we were enabled to dry and repack

our stores: the loss we sustained is chiefly in the medicines, many

articles of which are completely spoiled, and others considerably

injured. At four o'clock we embarked, and after making seven miles

encamped on the north near some wood: the country on both sides is

broken, the low grounds narrower and with less timber, though there are

some scattered pine and cedar on the steep declivities of the hills,

which are now higher than usual. A white bear tore the coat of one of

the men which he had left on shore; and two of the party wounded a large

panther who was feasting on a deer. We caught some lean antelopes as

they were swimming the river, and killed two buffaloe.

Friday 17. We set out early and proceeded on very well; the banks being

firm and the shore bold we were enabled to use the towline, which,

whenever the banks will permit it, is the safest and most expeditious

mode of ascending the river, except under a sail with a steady breeze.

At the distance of ten and a half miles we came to the mouth of a small

creek on the south, below which the hills approach the river, and

continue near it during the day: three miles further is a large creek on

the north, and again six and three quarter miles beyond it, another

large creek to the south, which contain a small quantity of running

water of a brackish taste. The last we called Rattlesnake creek from our

seeing that animal near it. Although no timber can be observed on it

from the Missouri, it throws out large quantities of driftwood, among

which were some pieces of coal brought down by the stream. We continued

on one mile and a quarter, and encamped on the south, after making

twenty and a half miles. The country in general is rugged, the hills

high, with their summits and sides partially covered with pine and

cedar, and their bases on both sides washed by the river: like those

already mentioned the lower part of these hills is a dark rich loam,

while the upper region for one hundred and fifty feet consists of a

whitish brown sand, so hard as in many places to resemble stone, though

in fact very little stone or rock of any kind is to be seen on the

hills. The bed of the Missouri is much narrower than usual, being not

more than between two and three hundred yards in width, with an

uncommonly large proportion of gravel; but the sandbars, and low points

covered with willows have almost entirely disappeared: the timber on the

river consists of scarcely any thing more than a few scattered

cottonwood trees. The saline incrustations along the banks and the foot

of the hills are more abundant than usual. The game is in great

quantities, but the buffaloe are not so numerous as they were some days

ago: two rattlesnakes were seen to-day, and one of them killed: it

resembles those of the middle Atlantic states, being about two feet six

inches long, of a yellowish brown on the back and sides, variegated with

a row of oval dark brown spots lying transversely on the back from the

neck to the tail, and two other rows of circular spots of the same

colour on the sides along the edge of the scuta: there are one hundred

and seventy-six scuta on the belly, and seventeen on the tail. Captain

Clarke saw in his excursions a fortified Indian camp which appeared to

have been recently occupied, and was, we presumed, made by a party of

Minnetarees who went to war last March.

Late at night we were roused by the sergeant of the guard in consequence

of a fire which had communicated to a tree overhanging our camp. The

wind was so high, that we had not removed the camp more than a few

minutes when a large part of the tree fell precisely on the spot it had

occupied, and would have crushed us if we had not been alarmed in time.

Saturday 18. The wind continued high from the west, but by means of the

towline we were able to make nineteen miles, the sandbars being now few

in number, the river narrow and the current gentle; the willow has in a

great measure disappeared, and even the cottonwood, almost the only

timber remaining, is growing scarce. At twelve and three quarter miles

we came to a creek on the north, which was perfectly dry. We encamped on

the south opposite the lower point of an island.

Sunday 19. The last night was disagreeably cold; and in the morning

there was a very heavy fog which obscured the river so much as to

prevent our seeing the way. This is the first fog of any degree of

thickness which we have experienced: there was also last evening a fall

of dew, the second which we have seen since entering this extensive open

country. About eight o'clock the fog dispersed, and we proceeded with

the aid of the towline: the island near which we were encamped, was

three quarters of a mile in length. The country resembles that of

yesterday, high hills closely bordering the river. In the afternoon the

river became crooked, and contained more sawyers or floating timber than

we have seen in the same space since leaving the Platte. Our game

consisted of deer, beaver, and elk: we also killed a brown bear, who,

although shot through the heart, ran at his usual pace nearly a quarter

of a mile before he fell. At twenty-one miles is a willow island half a

mile in length, on the north side, a quarter of a mile beyond which is a

shoal of rapid water under a bluff: the water continued very strong for

some distance beyond it: at half a mile we came to a sandbar on the

north, from which to our place of encampment was another half mile,

making in all twenty-two and a quarter miles. The saline substances

which we have mentioned continue to appear; and the men are much

afflicted with sore eyes and imposthumes.

Monday 20. As usual we set out early, and the banks being convenient for

that purpose, we used the towline: the river is narrow and crooked, the

water rapid, and the country much like that of yesterday: at the

distance of two and a quarter miles we passed a large creek with but

little water, to which we gave the name of Blowingfly creek, from the

quantity of those insects found in its neighbourhood. They are extremely

troublesome, infesting our meat whilst cooking and at our meals. After

making seven miles we reached by eleven o'clock the mouth of a large

river on the south, and encamped for the day at the upper point of its

junction with the Missouri. This stream which we suppose to be that

called by the Minnetarees the Muscleshell river, empties into the

Missouri two thousand two hundred and seventy miles above the mouth of

the latter river, and in latitude 47° 0' 24" 6 north. It is one hundred

and ten yards wide, and contains more water than streams of that size

usually do in this country; its current is by no means rapid, and there

is every appearance of its being susceptible of navigation by canoes for

a considerable distance: its bed is chiefly formed of coarse sand and

gravel, with an occasional mixture of black mud; the banks abrupt and

nearly twelve feet high, so that they are secure from being overflowed:

the water is of a greenish yellow cast and much more transparent than

that of the Missouri, which itself, though clearer than below, still

retains its whitish hue and a portion of its sediment. Opposite to the

point of junction the current of the Missouri is gentle, and two hundred

and twenty-two yards in width, the bed principally of mud (the little

sand remaining being wholly confined to the points) and still too deep

to use the setting pole. If this be, as we suppose, the Muscleshell, our

Indian information is, that it rises in the first chain of the Rocky

mountains not far from the sources of the Yellowstone, whence in its

course to this place it waters a high broken country, well timbered

particularly on its borders, and interspersed with handsome fertile

plains and meadows. We have reason, however, to believe, from their

giving a similar account of the timber where we now are, that the

timber of which they speak is similar to that which we have seen for a

few days past, which consists of nothing more than a few straggling

small pine and dwarf cedar, on the summits of the hills, nine-tenths of

the ground being totally destitute of wood, and covered with a short

grass, aromatic herbs, and an immense quantity of prickly pears: though

the party who explored it for eight miles represented low grounds on the

river as well supplied with cottonwood of a tolerable size, and of an

excellent soil. They also reported that the country is broken and

irregular like that near our camp; that about five miles up a handsome

river about fifty yards wide, which we named after Chaboneau's wife,

Sahcajahweah, or Birdwoman's river, discharges itself into the

Muscleshell on the north or upper side. Another party found at the foot

of the southern hills, about four miles from the Missouri, a fine bold

spring, which in this country is so rare that since we left the Mandans

we have found only one of a similar kind, and that was under the bluffs

on the south side of the Missouri, at some distance from it, and about

five miles below the Yellowstone: with this exception all the small

fountains of which we have met a number are impregnated with the salts

which are so abundant here, and with which the Missouri is itself most

probably tainted, though to us who have been so much accustomed to it,

the taste is not perceptible. Among the game to-day we observed two

large owls, with remarkably long feathers resembling ears on the sides

of the head, which we presume are the hooting owls, though they are

larger and their colours are brighter than those common in the United

States.

Tuesday 21. The morning being very fine we were able to employ the rope

and made twenty miles to our camp on the north. The shores of the river

are abrupt, bold and composed of a black and yellow clay, the bars being

formed of black mud, and a small proportion of fine sand; the current

strong. In its course the Missouri makes a sudden and extensive bend

towards the south, to receive the waters of the Muscleshell. The neck of

land thus formed, though itself high is lower than the surrounding

country, and makes a waving valley extending for a great distance to the

northward, with a fertile soil which, though without wood, produces a

fine turf of low grass, some herbs and vast quantities of prickly pear.

The country on the south is high, broken, and crowned with some pine and

dwarf cedar; the leaf of this pine is longer than that of the common

pitch or red pine of Virginia, the cone is longer and narrower, the

imbrications wider and thicker, and the whole frequently covered with

rosin. During the whole day the bends of the river are short and sudden;

and the points covered with some cottonwood, large or broad leaved

willow, and a small quantity of redwood; the undergrowth consisting of

wild roses, and the bushes of the small honeysuckle.

The mineral appearances on the river are as usual. We do not find the

grouse or prairie hen so abundant as below, and think it probable that

they retire from the river to the plains during this season.

The wind had been moderate during the fore part of the day, but

continued to rise towards evening, and about dark veered to northeast,

and blew a storm all night. We had encamped on a bar on the north,

opposite the lower point of an island, which from this circumstance we

called Windy island; but we were so annoyed by clouds of dust and sand

that we could neither eat nor sleep, and were forced to remove our camp

at eight o'clock to the foot of an adjoining hill, which shielded us in

some degree from the wind: we procured elk, deer, and buffaloe.

Wednesday 22. The wind blew so violently that it was deemed prudent to

wait till it had abated, so that we did not leave the camp till ten

o'clock, when we proceeded principally by the towline. We passed Windy

island which is about three quarters of a mile in length: and five and a

half miles above it a large island in a bend to the north: three miles

beyond this we came to the entrance of a creek twenty yards wide, though

with little water, which we called Grouse creek, from observing near its

mouth a quantity of the prairie hen with pointed tails, the first we

have seen in such numbers for several days: the low grounds are somewhat

wider than usual and apparently fertile, though the short and scanty

grass on the hills does not indicate much richness of soil. The country

around is not so broken as that of yesterday, but is still waving, the

southern hills possessing more pine than usual, and some appearing on

the northern hills, which are accompanied by the usual salt and mineral

appearances.

The river continues about two hundred and fifty yards wide, with fewer

sandbars, and the current more gentle and regular. Game is no longer in

such abundance, since leaving the Muscleshell. We have caught very few

fish on this side of the Mandans, and these were the white catfish of

two to five pounds. We killed a deer and a bear: we have not seen in

this quarter the black bear, common in the United States and on the

lower parts of the Missouri, nor have we discerned any of their tracks,

which may easily be distinguished by the shortness of its talons from

the brown, grizzly, or white bear, all of which seem to be of the same

family, which assumes those colours at different seasons of the year. We

halted earlier than usual, and encamped on the north, in a point of

woods, at the distance of sixteen and a half miles.

CHAPTER IX.

The party continue their route--description of Judith river--Indian

mode of taking the buffaloe--Slaughter river described--phenomena

of nature--of walls on the banks of the Missouri--the party encamp

on the banks of the river to ascertain which of the streams

constitute the Missouri--captain Lewis leaves the party to explore

the northern fork, and captain Clarke explores the southern--the

surrounding country described in the route of captain Lewis--narrow

escape of one of his party.

Thursday 23. Last night the frost was severe, and this morning the ice

appeared along the edges of the river, and the water froze on our oars.

At the distance of a mile we passed the entrance of a creek on the

north, which we named Teapot creek; it is fifteen yards wide, and

although it has running water at a small distance from its mouth, yet it

discharges none into the Missouri, resembling, we believe, most of the

creeks in this hilly country, the waters of which are absorbed by the

thirsty soil near the river. They indeed afford but little water in any

part, and even that is so strongly tainted with salts that it is unfit

for use, though all the wild animals are very fond of it. On experiment

it was found to be moderately purgative, but painful to the intestines

in its operation. This creek seems to come from a range of low hills,

which run from east to west for seventy miles, and have their eastern

extremity thirty miles to the north of Teapot creek. Just above its

entrance is a large assemblage of the burrowing squirrels on the north

side of the river. At nine miles we reached the upper point of an island

in a bend on the south, and opposite the centre of the island, a small

dry creek on the north. Half a mile further a small creek falls in on

the same side; and six and a half miles beyond this another on the

south. At four and a half we passed a small island in a deep bend to

the north, and on the same side in a deep northeastern bend of the river

another small island. None of these creeks however possessed any water,

and at the entrances of the islands, the two first are covered with tall

cottonwood timber, and the last with willows only. The river has become

more rapid, the country much the same as yesterday, except that there is

rather more rocks on the face of the hills, and some small spruce pine

appears among the pitch. The wild roses are very abundant and now in

bloom; they differ from those of the United States only in having the

leaves and the bush itself of a somewhat smaller size. We find the

musquitoes troublesome, notwithstanding the coolness of the morning. The

buffaloe is scarce to-day, but the elk, deer, and antelope, are very

numerous. The geese begin to lose the feathers of the wings, and are

unable to fly. We saw five bears, one of which we wounded, but in

swimming from us across the river, he become entangled in some driftwood

and sank. We formed our camp on the north opposite to a hill and a point

of wood in a bend to the south, having made twenty-seven miles.

Friday 24. The water in the kettles froze one eighth of an inch during

the night; the ice appears along the margin of the river, and the

cottonwood trees which have lost nearly all their leaves by the frost,

are putting forth other buds. We proceeded with the line principally

till about nine o'clock, when a fine breeze sprung up from the S.E. and

enabled us to sail very well, notwithstanding the rapidity of the

current. At one mile and a half is a large creek thirty yards wide, and

containing some water which it empties on the north side, over a

gravelly bed, intermixed with some stone. A man who was sent up to

explore the country returned in the evening, after having gone ten miles

directly towards the ridge of mountains to the north, which is the

source of this as well as of Teapot creek. The air of these highlands is

so pure, that objects appear much nearer than they really are, so that

although our man went ten miles without thinking himself by any means

half way to the mountains, they do not from the river appear more than

fifteen miles distant; this stream we called Northmountain creek. Two

and a half miles higher is a creek on the south which is fifteen yards

wide, but without any water, and to which we gave the name of Littledog

creek, from a village of burrowing squirrels opposite to its entrance,

that being the name given by the French watermen to those animals. Three

miles from this a small creek enters on the north, five beyond which is

an island a quarter of a mile in length, and two miles further a small

river: this falls in on the south, is forty yards wide, and discharges a

handsome stream of water; its bed rocky with gravel and sand, and the

banks high: we called it Southmountain creek, as from its direction it

seemed to rise in a range of mountains about fifty or sixty miles to the

S.W. of its entrance. The low grounds are narrow and without timber; the

country high and broken; a large portion of black rock, and brown sandy

rock appears in the face of the hills, the tops of which are covered

with scattered pine, spruce and dwarf cedar: the soil is generally poor,

sandy near the tops of the hills, and nowhere producing much grass, the

low grounds being covered with little else than the hysop, or southern

wood, and the pulpy-leafed thorn. Game is more scarce, particularly

beaver, of which we have seen but few for several days, and the

abundance or scarcity of which seems to depend on the greater or less

quantity of timber. At twenty-four and a half miles we reached a point

of woodland on the south, where we observed that the trees had no

leaves, and encamped for the night. The high country through which we

have passed for some days, and where we now are, we suppose to be a

continuation of what the French traders called the Cote Noire or Black

hills. The country thus denominated consists of high broken irregular

hills and short chains of mountains; sometimes one hundred and twenty

miles in width, sometimes narrower, but always much higher than the

country on either side. They commence about the head of the Kanzas,

where they diverge; the first ridge going westward, along the northern

shore of the Arkansaw; the second approaches the Rock mountains

obliquely in a course a little to the W. of N.W. and after passing the

Platte above its forks, and intersecting the Yellowstone near the

Bigbend, crosses the Missouri at this place, and probably swell the

country as far as the Saskashawan, though as they are represented much

smaller here than to the south, they may not reach that river.

Saturday, 25th. Two canoes which were left behind yesterday to bring on

the game, did not join us till eight o'clock this morning, when we set

out with the towline, the use of which the banks permitted. The wind

was, however, ahead, the current strong, particularly round the points

against which it happened to set, and the gullies from the hills having

brought down quantities of stone, those projected into the river,

forming barriers for forty or fifty feet round, which it was very

difficult to pass. At the distance of two and three quarter miles we

passed a small island in a deep bend on the south, and on the same side

a creek twenty yards wide, but with no running water. About a mile

further is an island between two and three miles in length, separated

from the northern shore by a narrow channel, in which is a sand island

at the distance of half a mile from its lower extremity. To this large

island we gave the name of Teapot island; two miles above which is an

island a mile long, and situated on the south. At three and a half miles

is another small island, and one mile beyond it a second three quarters

of a mile in length, on the north side. In the middle of the river two

miles above this is an island with no timber, and of the same extent as

this last. The country on each side is high, broken, and rocky; the rock

being either a soft brown sandstone, covered with a thin stratum of

limestone, or else a hard black rugged granite, both usually in

horizontal stratas, and the sandrock overlaying the other. Salts and

quartz as well as some coal and pumicestone still appear: the bars of

the river are composed principally of gravel; the river low grounds are

narrow, and afford scarcely any timber; nor is there much pine on the

hills. The buffaloe have now become scarce: we saw a polecat this

evening, which was the first for several days: in the course of the day

we also saw several herds of the big-horned animals among the steep

cliffs on the north, and killed several of them. At the distance of

eighteen miles we encamped on the south, and the next morning,

Sunday, 26th, proceeded on at an early hour by means of the towline,

using our oars merely in passing the river, to take advantage of the

best banks. There are now scarcely any low grounds on the river, the

hills being high and in many places pressing on both sides to the verge

of the water. The black rock has given place to a very soft sandstone,

which seems to be washed away fast by the river, and being thrown into

the river renders its navigation more difficult than it was yesterday:

above this sandstone, and towards the summits of the hills, a hard

freestone of a yellowish brown colour shows itself in several stratas of

unequal thickness, frequently overlaid or incrusted by a thin stratum of

limestone, which seems to be formed of concreted shells. At eight and a

quarter miles we came to the mouth of a creek on the north, thirty yards

wide, with some running water and a rocky bed: we called it Windsor

creek, after one of the party. Four and three quarter miles beyond this

we came to another creek in a bend to the north, which is twenty yards

wide, with a handsome little stream of water: there is however no timber

on either side of the river, except a few pines on the hills. Here we

saw for the first time since we left the Mandans several soft shelled

turtles, though this may be owing rather to the season of the year than

to any scarcity of the animal. It was here that after ascending the

highest summits of the hills on the north side of the river, that

captain Lewis first caught a distant view of the Rock mountains, the

object of all our hopes, and the reward of all our ambition. On both

sides of the river and at no great distance from it, the mountains

followed its course: above these, at the distance of fifty miles from

us, an irregular range of mountains spread themselves from west to

northwest from his position. To the north of these a few elevated

points, the most remarkable of which bore north 65° west, appeared above

the horizon, and as the sun shone on the snows of their summits he

obtained a clear and satisfactory view of those mountains which close on

the Missouri the passage to the Pacific. Four and a half miles beyond

this creek we came to the upper point of a small sand island. At the

distance of five miles between high bluffs, we passed a very difficult

rapid, reaching quite across the river, where the water is deep, the

channel narrow, and gravel obstructing it on each side: we had great

difficulty in ascending it, although we used both the rope and the pole,

and doubled the crews: this is the most considerable rapid on the

Missouri, and in fact the only place where there is a sudden descent: as

we were labouring over them, a female elk with its fawn swam down

through the waves, which ran very high, and obtained for the place the

name of the Elk Rapids. Just above them is a small low ground of

cottonwood trees, where, at twenty-two and a quarter miles we fixed our

encampment, and were joined by captain Lewis, who had been on the hills

during the afternoon.

The country has now become desert and barren: the appearances of coal,

burnt earth, pumicestone, salts, and quartz, continue as yesterday: but

there is no timber except the thinly scattered pine and spruce on the

summits of the hills, or along the sides. The only animals we have

observed are the elk, the bighorn, and the hare, common in this country.

In the plain where we lie are two Indian cabins made of sticks, and

during the last few days we have passed several others in the points of

timber on the river.

Monday, 27. The wind was so high that we did not start till ten o'clock,

and even then were obliged to use the line during the greater part of

the day. The river has become very rapid with a very perceptible

descent: its general width is about two hundred yards: the shoals too

are more frequent, and the rocky points at the mouth of the gullies more

troublesome to pass: great quantities of this stone lie in the river and

on its banks, and seem to have fallen down as the rain washed away the

clay and sand in which they were imbedded. The water is bordered by high

rugged bluffs, composed of irregular but horizontal stratas of yellow

and brown or black clay, brown and yellowish white sand, soft yellowish

white sandstone: hard dark brown freestone; and also large round kidney

formed irregular separate masses of a hard black ironstone, imbedded in

the clay and sand; some coal or carbonated wood also makes its

appearance in the cliffs, as do also its usual attendants the

pumicestone and burnt earth. The salts and quartz are less abundant, and

generally speaking the country is if possible more rugged and barren

than that we passed yesterday; the only growth of the hills being a few

pine, spruce, and dwarf cedar, interspersed with an occasional contrast

once in the course of some miles, of several acres of level ground,

which supply a scanty subsistence for a few little cottonwood trees.

Soon after setting out we passed a small untimbered island on the south:

at about seven miles we reached a considerable bend which the river

makes towards the southeast, and in the evening, after making twelve and

a half miles, encamped on the south near two dead cottonwood trees, the

only timber for fuel which we could discover in the neighbourhood.

History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, Vol. 1. To the Sources of the Missouri, Thence Across the Rocky Mountains and Down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Performed During the Years 1804-5-6. · 第 20 / 24 章

Indian method of attacking the buffaloe on the ice--An enumeration