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

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270 JJewis a1ld ClaJ•Ice's Expedition Hour. At thrc~ and three quarter miles we reaclH'd a point on the north opposite au island and a bluff; and one mile and a quarter further, after passing some red bluffs, came to on the north side, having made twelve miles. Here we found a rapid so difficult that we did not think proper to at­tempt the passage this evening, and therefore sent to cap­tain Lewis to apprise him of our arriva1. We saw a num. be1· of geese, ducl\:s, erows, and blackbirds to-day. the two former with their young. The river rose a little this even­ing, but the timber is still so scarce that we could not pro­cure enough for our usc during the night. Sunday, June 16. Some rain fell last night, and this morning the weather was cloudy and t.he wind high ft·om the southwest. We passed the ral'id by doub1y manning the pcr·jogue and canocs, and halted at the distance of a mile and a quartm· to examine the rapids a.l>ovc, which we found to be a continued succession of cascades as fm· as the view extended, which was about two miles. About a mile above whcr~ we halt~d was a large creek falling in on the south, opposite to which is a large sulphur spring falling over the rocks on the north: captain Lewis arrived at two fa·om the falls about 1iYe miles above us, and after consulting upon the subject of the portage, we crossed the river and formc(l a camt> o~ the north, having come three quarters of a mile to-day. F t~om out· own observation we had deemed the south side to be the most favourable for a portage, but two men sent out for the purpose of examining it, reported that the creel~ and tl.•e ravines intersected the plain so deeply that it was unposstble to cross it. Captain Clarke therefore re· solved to examine more minutely what was the best route: the four ca~oes were unloaded at the camp and then sent across the river, whea•e by means of strong cords they were ~tauled over the first rapid, whence they may be easily drawn .mto the creek F"ndi t h db 4 • 1 ng oo, t at the portage woul e a .. all events too long to enable us to carry the boats on our shoulders, six men were set to 'Tork to make wheels for ear- Up the J11issom·i. 2il 1·iages to transport them. Since leaving Maria's river the wife of Chaboneau, our interpreter, has been da.ngerously ill, but she now found great relief ft·om the mineral water of" the sulphur spring. It is situated about two hundred yards from the Missoul'i, into which it empties ovcl' a }H'eci­pice of rock about twenty-five feet high. 'l'he water is pct·­fectly transparent, strongly impregnated with sulphur, and we suspect iron also, as the colour of the hills and bluff~ in the neighboUI·hood indicates the pt·esencc of that metal. In short the water to all apllcarancc is precisely similar to that of Bowyer's sult>hur spt·ing in Vh•ginia. ~Ionday 17. Captain Clarke set out with five men to ex­plore the country; the rest were employed in hunting, ma­kiug wheels and in drawing the five canoes and all the baggage up the creek, which we now called Portage creek: from this creek there is a g•·adual ascent to the top of the l1igh I>laiu, while the bluffs of the creek lower down and of the Missouri, both above and below its entrance, were so steep as to have rendered it almost impracticable to drag them up from the Missouri. \Vc found g•·eat difficulty and some danger in even ascending the creek thus far, in con­sequence of the rapids and rocks of' the channel of the creek, which just above where we brought the canoes has a fall of five feet, and high and steep hlutrs beyond it: we were very fortunate in finding just below Portage creek a cot­tonwood tree about twenty-two inches in diameter, and large enou~h to make the carriage wheels: it was perhaps the only one of the same size within twenty miles; and the cottonwood, which we are obliged to employ in the othel' parti of the work, is extremely soft and b1·ittlc. 'l'he mast of the white periogue which ,ve mean to leave behind, sup­plied us with two axletrees. There are vast quantities of buffaloe feeding in the plains or watering in the river, which is also strewed w.ith the floating carcases and limbs of these animals. They go in lat·ge herds to water about the faUs, an.d as ~ll the ,Passages to the river near that place are nar-