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 199

Tlae- pat-ty cemmancled by captain Clarke, prt'vious to h is beingJeaned by t p tain Lewis, proceed along Clarke's river, in pm·suancc of the route men· tioned in a preceding chnptcl·-thcit· SOrL"Y commemoration of our national nnniversary-an instance of Sacajawea's ~;tren gt h of mcmory-0 'Rca·iption of the river and of the surrounding counta·y a· the party proceed-several of the horses belonging to the party suppo~ecl to be stolen hy their Indian neigh· bours-thcy t•cnch \Visdom river-exta·uor<lin:u·y heat of a &pring-lhc ij tron~ :\ttachment of the party foa· tobacco, which they find on opening :. cnchr­scajennt Ordwuy recovers the horses-captain Chu·kc divid<'S his Jlllt•ty, one cictachment of which was to descend the rivca·-tlacy t•ctach Gallatin ntH\ J clfcr son rivea·s, of which n descriptaon is given--arrive at the Y ellowstrmc river­some account of Ottct and Beaver rivers--an example of Indian fortifira twn- one of Lhc party seriously anu accidentally woundcd-engagctl in tht construction of canoes--twenty-four horses stolen, prob:\bly by the Indi:.u. , m one night. ,.rhursday, July 3, 180G. ON taking leave of <'aptaill Lewis and the Indians, the othet· division, cou~istiug ol' captain Clarke with fifteen men and fifty horses, set out ihrough the valley of Ularke's river, along the wcstct•n sldc of which they rode in a soutltcrn dh·cction. The valley is f1·om ten to fifteen miles in width. tolerably le­vel, and partially covered with tho long-leafed anti the pitcb I>ine, with some cottonwood, bir·ch, and sweet willow on the borders of the sh·eams. Among the hel'L>age are two species of clover, one the white clover common w tho western llarts of the United States, the other much small­er both in its leaf and blossom than either the red OL' white clove1•, and particulal'ly relished by the horses. Af r Cl'OSS· ing eight different streams of water, four of which '"el'O small, we halt.cd at the distance of eighteen miles on the up· }Jtr side of a large creek, where we let our horses graze, and 367 :lftcr <linncr resumed om· journey in the same direction w• bad 1mrsucd dtn•ing the mol'niog, till at thG distance of eighteen miles fut·lher, we eneampctl on the north side of a large creek. 'l'he valley became mot·e beautiful as we pro­ceeded, and was diversified by a number of small open plains, abounding with grass, and a variety of sweet-scented plants, and wate1·cd by ten strt·ams which rush from the western mountains with considerable velocity. 'I'he moun­tains themselves are covet·ed with snow about one firtb from the top, ami some snow is still to be seen on the high point!i ~tud in the hoJlows of the mountains to the eastward. In the cout·se of our l'idc we saw a great numbm· of deer, a single lJca.t·, aml some of t.he hurrowing squinels common :i.bout the Quamash flats. '!'he musqnctoes too were very trouble· so mo. }.,riday, .July 4. Early in 1he morning three hunters were sent out, and the rest of tltc Il~l.\'ty haviug collected the horses and brcal\.fastcd, we pt·oeeedcd at seven o'clock up the valley, which is now contl'acted to t he width of from eight to ten miles, with a good pt·opo•·tion of pitch pine, though its low lands, as well as the bottoms of the creeks, are stt·cwcd with large stones. \V c eros sed five creeks ol" ~im.wcut si:Gcs, but or gt·cat depth, and so l'apid, that in pas - ing the last, scvct·al of the hor• es were driven down the stream, aud some of out· baggage wet. Ncar this river we !S\l.W the trae1.s of two Indiam~, whom we suptloscd to be Sho­shonees. Having made sixteen miles, we halted at an early hour for tlw fllll'}>OSe of doing honour to the birth-day of out• country's iudcpcudcncc. 'l'he festival was uot. very S})lendid, for it cou!:!istcd of a mush made of cows and a !!addle of veni­son, nor had we auy thing to tempt us to prolong it. 'Ve thc1·cforc went on tiJl at the distance or a mile we came to a. very large creek, '" bieh, like all those in the valley, had an immense rapidity or descent.; and we therefore proceedccl up for some distance, in order to select the most convQnicnt spot for fordiJluo. Even there, however, such \Vas ihc li<1 -