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 24

lity anwn~ Utcm. lie then left. this houGe, and directinr; each of the men to f;O into a honsc, wen1 htmse]f to a se­cond: here we found the inhahitanf s more tcrrifird than those be ha{l farst seen; but he succecdctl in Jlac•if.viug them, and then visite<l the other houses, where the men had been equally successful. After )caving the houses be went out to sit on a l'O('k, and beckoned to some of the men to come and smoke with him; but none of them vcntm·e(l to join him till the canoe art·iyed with the two chiefs, who immediate­ly explained out· pacific intentions towards them. Soon af­ter the intcqwete~·'s wife landed, and her pl'cscnce dissipa­te< l all doubts of our being wcll-disposrd, since in this coun­try, no woman ever a<·companics a war J>arty: they there­fore all came out and seemed p<wfectly reconciled; nm· could we indcc(l hhmte thrm for their terro1·s, which wet·c per­. fectly nntural. rnlCy told the two chiefs that they knew we were uot men, i(w tJwy had seen us fall from the clouds. jn fact, unp ·r·<·civcd IJy them, captain Clark() had shot the whi(c crane, which they ltad seen fall just before he appear~ ed to theia· eyt~s: the duck whieh he had J<.iJled also fell closo lty him, and as thcl"e wt~t·c a few douds flying over at the :moment. they t~omt<·ctc(l the fall of t.he hil·ds aml his sudden appca1·:uwe. ancl bclic\'ed that he had himself dL'OJl}lecl from the <~loucls; the noise of the riile. which they had never heard before, being c·onsic!cJ·ed mcrc.•.Jy as the sound to a.n .. uouncc so exh·aordin:H'y on cvt>nt. This be lid' was strength­entd, when on cntet·ing the room ltc ht·ongh t down fit·c fJ·om the hc.·aveno by means of ltis bm·ning-glass: v·e soon con­vinced them satisfactorily that we were only mo&·tals, ancl aft<·r one of our chiefs had explained om· his•or.y and ohJ. ccts ' ' we all smoked togcU1ct· in great harmony. Thrsc ll<..'oplc do not sprak pt·eciseJy the same language as the Indians ".boYc, but understand tbem in conversation. Jn a short time we WCl'C joined by many of the inhabitants fl'om lie­low, several ot' them on horseback, and all }lleascd to see us, a.nd to cxehanbrc their fish and berries for a few trinkets UJJ tlw .JUissom·t. \V c remained hct'e to dine, and then procertled. At half a mile the~ hilly countt·y on the r·ight Ricle of the r·ivct· ceased: u.t ele­ven miles we fouml a smallt·apid, and a mile further came to a small island on the left, where thcL·e arc some willows. SinN-, we had left the five lodges. we l,asRC(l twenty more, tlisp('rscc\ along the rinw at cliflcL'('nt pa.r·ts of tlH~ valley on tlac right; but a.s they wet·e uow a.pJH'isNl of our toming they showt>d no signs of alarm. Ou lt>aving 1 he island we pa.sscd tln·ce miles further along a count r·y "hich is low 011 both sides of tllC river·, and cn<•amvcd under some willow trr<'s on th(' lcrt, having made thit·ty· six miles to-day. lmmc1li~\tcly Oj)po itc tons is an islaml close to the left shore. and another in the middle of the l'ivt>r, on which arc twenty fom· houses of Indians, all engag<'d in drying fii:ih. We had ocarccly lauded before about a hundred oft hem came ovc..~ r· in thcil' boats to vhdt us, bt·inging 'vith them a (ll'Cscnt of some wood, \vhicb was vcr•y acceptable: wu l'cceived tbrm in a.R kind a manner as we could--smoked with all of them, and gave the principal chief a str·ing ol' wampum; but the highebt. satis­faction they enjoyed was the music of two of our violins, \vith lvhich they seemed much delighted: the) remained all night at our iircH. This tr•ibc is :a. branch or the nation called Pishquit.pa,rs, and <>..an 1·aise about tht·ee hunth·cd and fifty men. In dress they resemble the Indians near the forks of the Columbia, except that thch· robes ar·e small(·r and do not reach lower than the waist; indcrd, three fourths of them have scarcely any rohcs at all. The drcfis of the fe­ronles is equally s~anty; for they wcat· only a small piece of a robe which coveL'S theit• ~houlde1·s and neck, a.nd reaches .Jown the ba{\k to the waist, where it is attached by a piece gf lt~ather tied tight round tho body: their b1·rasts, which are thus CXI>osed to view, arc lat'gc, jll.shaped, and arc suf­fered to hang down very low: theiL· check-bones high, their heads flaUcnccl, u.ud their })Crsons in geucr·al adorned with scarcely any ot·uamcnts. Doth st\XCS are employed in curing fhh, of wllieh they have grNtL quant.Hi<'s nn their s«'afiold,.