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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856 Lewis and Clarke's Expedition to them to halt: this Dt•ewycr obeyed, but Shields uid not observe it, and still went forward: seeing Dt·ewyer halt the Indian turned his horse about as if to wait for captain Lewis who now reached within one hundred and fifty J>aces, repeating the wot·•l tauiJa IJonc, and holding up the trinkets in his hand, at the same time stripping up the sleeve ofhi shirt to show lhe colour of his skin. 'rhc Indian suflcrcd him to advance within one hundecc.l }>aces, then suddenly turned his horse, and giving J)im the whip, leaped across the creek, and disappeared in an instant among the willow bushes: with him vanishetl aH the hopes which the sight or him had inspired of a fl'icndly introduction to his country­men. Though sadly disappointed by the imprudence of his two men, captain Lewjs detcl'miucd to make the incident of some use, and thel'efore calling the men to him they all set off after the it•ack of I he horse, which they hoped might lead them to the camp or the Indian who had Ilcil, or if' he had given the alarm to any small Jmrty, their track might conduct them to the body of the nation. 'rltey now fixed a small Jlag of the United States on a pole, which was cal'l•icd by one of the men as a signal of their friendly iuten­tions, should the Indians observe them as they were ad van· dug. 'rhe route lay across an isl:md fot•mcd by a nearly equal division of the Cl'cek ju the bottom: after reachiug the open grounds on th~ right side of the creek, the track turned towas'ds some high hills about three miJcs distant. Presuming that the Iudiau camp might be among these hills, and that by advancing hastily i1e mighl he seen aJl(} nlal'lll them, ea11tain I~cwis sought an elevated situation neat· the creek, had a fil'e made of willow brush, and took breakfast. At the same time he prepared a .:imall assort­ment of beads, tJ•inkcts, awls, some paint and a looldng glass, and placed them on a }lolc ncar the fire, iu ol'dcr that if the Indians rctm·ned they might disco vet' that the party were white meu and frjcnds. 'Vhilst making these preparations a very heavy shower of rain and hail Up tlte .Missouri. 35'1 came on, and wet them to the skin: in about twenty mi­nutes it was over, an(l captain Lewis then renewed his pur­suit, but as the rain ha.tl made the grass which the horse bad trodden down rise again, his track could with difficulty be distinguished. As they went along they passed several places where the Indians seemed to have been digging roots to-day, and saw the fresh tra<'k of eight or ten hor­ses, but they bad been wandering about in so confused :a. manner that he could not discern any particular path, and at last, after pursuing it about four miles along the valley to the left under the foot of the hill:;, l1e lost the track of the fugitive Indian. Near the head of the val­ley they had passed a large bog covered with moss and tall grass, among which were several springs of pure cold water: they now turned a littJc to the left along the foot of the ltigh hills, and reached a small creek where they· encamped for the night, having made about twenty miles, though not more than ten in a direct line from their camp of last eYcniug. 'rhe morning being rainy and wet we did not set out with the canoes till after an cat·ly bt·ral{fa.st. During the first tbrce miles we passed three small islands, six bayous on different sides of the river, and (he same number· of bends towards the right. IJ ere we reaelll'd the lowet· point of a large island whith we ca!lcd 'l'hl'ec-thousand­mile island, on aecount of Hs being at that distance from the mouth of the 1\'lissom~i. It is ths·ec miles and a bali" in length, and as we coasted along it we I)assed several small bends of the river to Yards the left, and t\\'O ha­yous on the saute side. After leaving the upprr llojnt of 'rhree-thousand-milc island, we fyllowcd the main chan­nel on the left side. which led us by three small islands and several small bayous, an(l Jift ecn bcmls towards the right. Then at the distance of seven miles and a half we encamped on the uppc1· cud of a large island ncar 1he 1·ight. The river was shallow and rallid, so tbat "c