History of the expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark, 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 by order of the government of the United States; Volume 1

Page 75

11U Lewis and Clar1~c·s E:.a·pcdition comes in a small creek from the north, called Keetooshsa­hawna or Place of Beaver. At the upper extremity of the island a river empties itself from the north: it is called 'Varreeonne. or Elk Shed theh· Horns, and is about thirty­five yards wide: the island itself is named Carp island hy Evans, a former traveller. As we pro<'cedcd there were great numbers of goats on the banks of the river. and we soon after saw large Hocks of them in the water: they had been gradually driven into the river by the Indians who now lined the shore so as to prevent their escape, and were firing on tbem, while sometimes boys went into the river and kil­led them with sticks: they seemed to he vet·y successful. for we counted fifty-eight which they had kilh·d. We onrsehcs killed some, and then passing the lodges to which tl1esc In· dians belonged, encamped at the distance of half a mile on the south, having made fourteen and a half miles. " 'e were soon visited by numbers of these Ricaras, who (}ros­sed the river hallooing and singing: two of them then re· turned for some goats' flesh and buffaloe meat dl'ird and fresh, with which they made a feast that lasted till late at night, and caused much music and merriment. Wednesday 17th. 'I'he weather was pleasant: we passed a low ground covered with small timber on the south, and bar· ren hills on the north which came elose to the rive1·; the wind from the northwest then become so strong that we could not move after ten o'clock, until late in the afternoon, ·when we were forced to use the towline, and we therefore made only six miles. 'Ve all went out hunting and examin· ingthe country. The goats, of which we see large flocks com· ing to the north bank of the river, spend the summer, says Mr. Gravelines, in the plains east of the Missouri, and at the pt•e· sent season are returning to the Black mountains, where th.ey subsist on leaves and sht•ubbcry dut•lng the winter, and resume their migrations in the S}>ring. We also saw buff~loe, elk, and deer, and a number of snakes; a beaver house too was seen, and we caught a whippoorwill of a small and uncommon llp the JtlissQflri. itt kind: the leaves are fast falling; the river wider than usual and full of sandbars: and on the sides of the hilJs are large stones, and some rock of a brownish colour in the southern bend below us. Our latitude by observation was 46° 28' 51". Thursday 18. After three miles we reached the mouth of Le Boulet or Cannonball river: this stream rises in the Black mountains, and falls into the Missouri on the south; its chan­nel is about one hundred and forty yards wide, though the water is now confined within forty, and its name is derived from the numbers of perfectly round large stones on the shore and in the bluffs just above. We here met with two Frenchmen in the employ of Mr. Gravelines, 'vho had been robbed by the Mandans of their traps, furs. and other articles, and were descending the river in a periogue, but they tur­ned back with us i~ expectation of obtaining redress through QUr means. At eight miles is a m·eek on the north, about twenty-eight yards wide, rising in the northeast, and called Chewah or Fish river; one mile above this is another creek on the south: we encamped on a sandbar to the south, at the distance of thirteen miles, all of which we had made with oars and poles. Great numbers of goats are crossing the river and directing their course to the westward; we a1so saw a herd ot' buffaloe and of elk; a pelican too was killed, and six fal­low deer, having found, as the Ricaras informed us, that there are none of the black-tail species as high up as this place. The country jg in general level and iint>, with bro­ken short high grounds, low timbered mounds on the river, and a rugged range of hills at a distance. Fr~day 19. '\l,.c set sail with a fine morning, and a south­east wmd, and at two and a half miles passed a creek on the north side: at eleven a~d a half miles we came to a lake or large pond on the same side, in which were some swans. On both banks of the Missouri are low gt•ounds which have much more timber than lower down the river: the hilli are at one or two miles distance fa•om the banks, and the streams which J•ise in them al'e brackish, and the mineral salts appear on