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 183

33'.11 kce, hut was ohli~ed to retu1·n. 'Vc now smohctl a f:uwf'll pipr with out· t'stimablr companions, who t'X(ll'f' l-l!:H'd t•vt•t·y emotion of rr~l'd at. p:wting with us. whieh lhr,v felt the more. because thry did not eonccal their f(•at·s of' our lwing cut olrhy thr Pahkres. 'Ve also ;~ave Clu•m a shir·t, a ham}. k(•rchid', Had a smaJJ quantity or ammunition. The uu·~1 t 'vhich they rccchcd ihnn us was dl'icd amJ left at tit is place as a storr during the houwwardjom·tH"Y· This (•irc•tmtstanee conflt·ms OUl' belief, that tltcJ•e is no a·oute a1ong ~~~~~·kr's l'iYer to the Columhian J>lains, so nrar or so ~ocul as tlaat hy 'vhich we came; for·, although these people mran #o go for sevet·al days' jout•ury down that •·jvcr, to look for· the Sha­lecs, yet they intend J'ellll'ning home hy the Same pass Of the mountain throm;h which tlJCy cond1wted us. This ro11tc is also used by all the nations whom we Jmow wt•sl of the mountains who aa·e in the habit of visif in~ the phtim; of the 1\'[issouri; while on the oHlCI' side all tltl' war path~ of tile Pahkees, which fall into 1 hi~ valley of Clm·kc's J•ivt·r·. <'on­centre at 'rravellt•rs' -•·est, hrJ ond which 1.1H'!:iC people have never ventured to the wrst. IIaving ta.krn It· ave of the ] ndians. we mount.Nl our horses, and JH'oceccled up the ea!:itel'n l)l'anch of Chu·kt''s •·i­vcr · through the level plain in which we were ('ne:uupctl. At the distance of five miles we had ct•osscd a small t•.a·t~ek fiftec.•n yards wide, and now cnlct·ed the mountains. The J•.ivt-l' is here closely confined within tho hills fo•· two luiles, vhen the bottom widens into an extensive prail'ie, ami th~ river is one hundred ami ten yat•ds in witlth. 'Ve went three miles fut•thcr, over a high illain suecc.wtlcd uy a low and 1 •vel prail'ic, to the entrance of the Cok~llabishkit. 'J'Ilis river empties itself ft•om the northeast, is deep. l'apitl, anti ~bout sixty yards wide, with banks, which I hough uot high, arc su 01ciently bold to prevent the watet' f1·om ov~rllo" in g. 'l'he eastel'n branch of UJal'l~c's 1·ivcr is uincfy yal'ds willo above the junction, but below it sp1·c~uls to one huruh·ctl, 'fbo waters of both are turbid, thou'h the <.:okalabishkit is llp the .Jllissouri. 33:; the clc~ rcr of the two; the l,cds of' both are composed ofsantl and gr·an•l. bul tu·itllcr of thf.'m is navigable on account of the J'C4pids aucl shoals whidt obs1ru<'t thcil' Clll'I'Cnts. lle­foi'C the junction of these st1'eams, thn eountt·y hacl been bare or li'Ct'S. but ~IS W{~ tlll'IH':fl tqt t h(' fH)I'th Ul'lliiCh or the Col<a· lahishkit, we J'ouncl a woody conntt·y, though the hills wct·e high and the low ~··o unds uaa·t·ow atHl {)001'. At the dis­tance ol' right miles in~" due rast euune, we encamped in u. lJOttom, whet•c ther·c was an ahuntlancc or (•xcclknt gTass. 'rh(· evening JH·ovell lint• and plt·a&auf, and we wc1·e no lon­gm · annoyed hy mu~tptitoes. Out· only ga.me \H'I'C two squir~ rcls, one or the kind eornmon to the Hocky mountains, the scconcl a p;l·outttl squin·el or a spt•cimf we }aatl not ~een be­fot ·c. Nl'at· the l,]a<·e wllct•c '"e crossed Clal'l(c's rivet·, we saw at a di ·tarwe, sume w il1l htH'~:ws. w hieh are said, iuc.leed, to he vcl'y m1met·ous on this river· as well as on the heads or the Ydlowstonc. Sa!ut·day, JuJy 5. :Em·ly in the morning we pt·oceec.lcd on fot· three and a halt' miles, in a di1·cction uot•th 7 5° east, then iucliuiug to thr south, et·ossed au extensive, l.wautiful, and well waten~d vallry, nrat'l)' twelve miles in length, at the cxtl'cmity of whit·h we halted fot· dinner. liere we obtain· ell a hl'eal ttuantity of cjuatuash, atHl shot an antelo1.,c L'rom a gang ol' female~. who at this season herd together, aiJat.~t f1·om the bucks. Al'tct· dinner we followed the cout·se of the l'ivcr eastwardly for six miles, to the mouth of a creek thit·ty-flve yat·ds wid(~, which we called 'Yel'ncr's creek. It comes in from the north. and waters a high extensive prai­l'ie, the hills ucar which are low, and supplied with the long-leafed I,iue, larch. and some fir·. 'rhe road then led llOI'th 22° west, for fout· miles, soon aftt.w which it again turned north 73° east, for two and a half miles, over a hand­some plain, watered Ly Wea·net·'s CI'l\ek, to the rivet·, which we followed on its eastern dit·ection, thl'ough a high praric, rend('t·cc.l very unequal uy a vast number or Jittl6 hillocki and sinkholes, and at three miles distance eneamped nca1·