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 2

Page 179

32o Saturday, 28, when they were hrought up, exltibitr(ll'a· ther a gaunt appearance. The ln(lia.ns. however. promise(} that we should reach some good grass at noon, and we thcrr. fore set out after an early breakl"ast. Our route lay n]ong the dividing ridge, and act•oss a very deep hollow, till at tho distance of six miles we passed our catnp of the fifteenth of Sclltembcr. A mile and a half further we pa.ssetl the t't>atl f 1·om the right, immediately on the <\hiding l'idgc, leading by tbe fishery. 'Vc went on as we l1ad done during Ow l(n·­n1er part of the route over derp snows, whrn ha,'ing ma~c thirteen miles we reached the side of a mouu1ain, just above the fishery, which having no timber, ami a southern exposure, the snow had disappeared, leaving an abun(lauec of fine grass. Our· hot•ses were ''ery hung•·y as well us fa­tigued, and as there was no other S}lOt within our rca<'h this evening, where we could find any food fot· t hcrn, we de­termined to encamp, thougb it was not yet miuday. But a.s there was no water in the neigbbourhootl, we melted snow fol' cooking, and early in the morning, Sumlay, 29, continued along the ridge which we have IJcen following for seVCl'al days, till at the end or five miles it terminated; and now bidding adien to the snows in which we ba;,-e been imllrisoned, we dcsccll(led to the main branch of the Kooskooskce. On rcaehing the watet· side, we rountl a deer which had been left for us by two huntN'S who had been despatched at an early hour· to the wat'm springs, and wh.ich }Woved a very seasonable a(]dition to our food; for hav· ill"" neither meat nor oil, we were reduced to a diet of roots, w~hout salt or any other addition. At this place, about.~' mile and a half from the Sllot whet•e Quamash et•eek falls m from the northeast, the Kooskooskee is about thirty ya~·ds ·wide amlruns w.1 th great vc1 o c1· ty over a 1u.c d , ,vhich ' ltke those' of all the mount am. sh·eams, 1· s compose d of pebbles. 'Ve for(lcd the river, ami ascended for two miles the .stc~p acclivities of a mountain, and at I• ts sumrru• t Jlo' un< 1 counng 10 from the t·igbt the old road whi~h we had J.lasscd on our route Up the JPfissow·i. last autumn. It was now much plaineJ•and mot·e beaten, which the Indians told us "\>\-as owiug to the frequent visits of the Ootlas}wots, from the valley of Clarke's river to the fishery; though thct·c was no appral'ance of their having been hero this spr·ing. rrwe}vo mil<•s ft'Offi OUl' camp WO halted to gl·azc our· hot·scs on the Quamash flats, on the creek of th~ same name. 'l'his is a handsome plain of fifty acres in ex­tent, covered with an abundance of quamash, and seems to f'ot·m a j>rincipal stage or encampment fo1· the Indians in passing the mountains. 'Vc saw here several young phea­s~ nts, and l<.illcd one of the small hlack kind, which is the 1kst we have obsct·vcd below th~ region of snow. In the neighbourhood wet·c also seen the tL·acks of two barefoot ln­diaus, which our companions supposed to be Ootlashoots, who had iled in distJ·rss f't·om the Paltkecs. Ilere we dis­' lovercd that two of the horses were missing. 'Vc therefore !Sent two men in quest or them, and then went on seven miles fUJ·thet• to the warm spt·ings, where we arrived early in the afternoon. rrhe two huntet•s who had been sent for­Wal ·d ju the mot·uing hatl collected no game, nor were several etltct·s, who went out after our ~u·rival, more successful. 'Ve theret'ot·c had a prospect of continuing our usual diet of" roots, when late in the arternoon the men returned with the stray horses and a deer for supper. These warm springs arc situated at the foot of a hili, on the north sido ot'Tt·avellcr's-rest creek, whi~h is ten yard:~ wide at tltis place. They issue ft•om the bottoms, and through the inteJ•stices of a gt·ay fr·eestone rock, wbich rises in ir·­• ·egulat· masses round their lower side. The principal ipring, which the Indians JJave formed into a batb by stopping the run with stone and pebbles, is about the same temperatur~ a.s tbe warmest bath used at the bot springs in Virginia. On t1·ying, oaptain Lewis eould witb difficulty remain in it nine­teen minutes, and tben was affected with a profuie perspi­ration. 'I'he two other springs ara much hotter, the tempe­rature being equal to that or the warmest of 'he hot spriass