OCR Text |
Show Lewi~ and Clarke'tr Expeditio1t site the plain there was an island and a Ft·cnch fort, bet there is uow no appearance of either, the successive inun. dations having probably washed them away. as the willow island which is in the situation described by Du Pratz, is small and of recent. !ormation. ~'ive miles from this place is tbe mouth of G t'and Uivcr, where we encamped. 'I 'his river follows a course nearly south, or south east, and i8 between eighty and a hundt·erl yards wide wltere it enters the Missouri, near a delightful and rich plain. A racoon, a bear, and some deer were obtained to day. We proceed. ed at six o'clock the next morning. The current was so rapid and the banks on the north falling in so constantly, that we were obliged to appt·oach the sandbal's on the south. These were mo\·ing continually, and formed the worst passage we had seen, and which we surmounted with much difficulty. We met a trading raft ft·om the Pawnee nation on the river Platte, and attempted unsltccessfully to engage one of their party to return with us. At. the distance of eight miles, we came to some high cliffs, calle(l the Snake bluffs, from the number of that animal in the nt-ighbourhood, and immediately above these bluffs. Snake creek, about eighteen yards wide, on which we encamped. One of our hunters, a half Indian, brought us an account of his having to day passed a smaH Jake, near which a number of dcet• were fccdin~, a?d in the rwnd he heard a snake making a gu~tural nmsc hke a turkey. He fired his gun, but the n01se became louder. He adds, that be has heard the Indians mention this species of snake, and this story is con· fit'me.d by a .Frenchman of our party. All the next day, the rtvcr bcmg very high, the sandbars were so rolling and numerous, and the current so strong, that we wm·e unable to stem it even with oars added to our sails; this obliged Uli to g~ nearct· the banks, which were falling in, so that we could not make, though the boat was occasionally towed, more than fourteen miles. '\Ve passed several islands and on: creek on the south side, and encamped on the north op· Up the .,liissoul'i. positc a beautiful plain, which extends as far back as the Osage river, and some mil up the Missom·i. In front of our encampment are the remains of an old village of the Little Osage, situated at some distance f1·om the river, and at the foot of a small hill. About tl11·cc miles above them, in view of our camp is the situation of the old village of the 1\'Iissouris after they fled from the Sauks. 'l'he inroads of the same tribe compelled the Little Osage to retire from the Missouri a few year!:i ago, and establish themselves near the Great Osages. The river, which is here about one mile wide, had risen in the morning, but fell towards evening. Eat·ly this morning, J unc 16th, we joined the camp of our huntct·s, who had pl'ovided two deer and two bear, and then passing an islantl and a prairie on the north covered with a species of timothy, made our way through bad sandbars and a swift current, to an encampment for the evening, on the north side, at ten miles distance. The timber which we examined to day was not sufllciently strong for oars; the musquitoes and ticks are exceedingly troublesome. On the 17th, we set out early, and having come to a convenient place at one mile distance, for procuring timber and making oars, we occupied ourselves in that way on this and the following day. The country on the north of the river is rich and covered with timber; among which we procured the ash for oars. At two miles it changes into extensive prairies, and at seven or eight miles distance becomes higher and waving. The prairie and high lands on the south commence more immediately on the river; the wl10lc is well watered and provided with game, such as deer, elk, and bear. The hunters brought in a fat horse which was probably lost by some war pat·ty-this being the crossing place for the Sa.uks, Ayauways, and Sioux, in their excursions against the Osage. June 19, the oars being finbhed, wo JU:·occcdcd under a gentle breeze by two large and some smaller islan<ls. rrhe sal.tdbars al'c numerous and so bad, that ~t one place w•" |