OCR Text |
Show .Lewis mul Clal'l~e's EX]Jl'dilion going with us to the }llains of the l\fissouri, fhry "ould ue very willing to do so, for fhough the Blackfoot Indians and thr Pahkees had shNl much of OH'h· blood, they still wished to live in peace with tlwm. But we had not yet seen either of these nations. and H would ther<•fo&·c he unsafe for them fo venture, till they were assurrd of not IH'ing attn.ckt•d by thom. Still, howrvcr, some of fla ei&· young men would ac. company us ar•·oss the mounlains, and if t.ltry could rffccf a peace with thrir cncmi<•s, the whole nation "ould go over to the l\Iissout'i in th · com·sc of next summer. On our pt'Oposal that one of the chiefs should go with us to the country of the whites, they had uot yet tlecitled, hut would let us know before we left them. But that, at all events, tbe whites mil;'ht cal(\Ulat.c on their atfachm<•nt aud their· best services, :fot· tlwugh pooa·, theit· hearfs wm·c good. The snow wns, however. stiJJ so ,Jeep on the mountains, that we shouhlJlC· rish in atfcmpt.ing the pa.s age, but if we waited till aflet• tho next full moon, tho snows would haYo suilicicntly melted to cnaJJic ou1· hot·ses to sullsist on the gt·ass. As soon as this speech was concluded, ('.aptain J.~cwis r eplied at some h·n(t;th: with tltis they nJlpearcd highly g•'atificd, ancl after r;moking the pipe, made us a p1'escnt of :HJotlu."J' fat horse for food. 'Vc, in t.nrn, gave the Brokenarm a phial of eye-water, with dit'C<'tions to wash the cyrs of all who shvuld appl) for it; amlas we }Womiscd to Jill it again whcu H was exhausted, he seemed vet·y much })lea cd with ou1· liberality. 'To the Twist.edhah·, who had la ·t night collected six more ho1·ses. we gave a gun, an laun<lt•c{i balls, and two pounds of JlOwrlcr, and told him he s}aould have the same quantity whon we received the remainder of om· horses. In the cour!:lc of the day thl'ce morr of them were Lu·ought in, and a fresh cxchaogc of small presents put the Indians ju excclknt hulnour. On our expressing a wish to cross the river, and fo11m a camp, in order to hunt and fi sh tiJI the snows had mcltc,t, they recommended a position a few miles distant, tit"d pt·omiscd to t•ut·nish us to-mort·ow with a canoe to oro~s. Up the .Missouri~ ~85 'Ve invited the Twistetlhait· to settle ncar our camp, for he has sevm'al young sons, ono of whom we hope to engage as a guide, and he promised to do so. Ila.ving now settled all thoir nffait·s, the Indians dividrd themselvc!i into two partics, and began to play the game of hiding a bone, already drsct'ibcd, a!i common to all tho natives of this country, which t hey continue•! playin~ for heads and other ot'namcnts. ... |