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

Page 232

Lewis and Cla1·ke's l'Jxptdition as among all savage nations, to tlJC lowest and most labori­ous dt•udgery. 'Vhen the tribe is stationary, they coUect the roots, and cook; tiJCy build the huts, dress the skins and make clothing; collect the wood, and assist in taking care of the horses on the route; they load the horses and lrave the ~harge of aU the baggage. Tbe only business of the J~an lS to :fight; JJC therefOI'O takes On himself 0Je car•o of Jus horse, the companion of his warfat•e; but he wilJ dcs(:end t~ no other labour than to hunt and to fish. He would consider lumsclf d('ooraded by being <•ompelled to walk any distance; and were he so poor as to possess only two horses, he would ri~e the best of them, and leave the other fot· his wives and cluldren and their· baggag<'; and il' he has too many wives or too much baggage for fhe lJOrso, the wives ha.vo no al­ternative but to follow him on foot; they are not bowcve 1 • often reduced to those cxtr·emiHes, fot· their stock of horses is very ample. Notwithstanding their losses this spr!ng they still have at least seven humh·ed, among wluch arc about forty colts. and half that numl>e1· of mul •s. There arc no horses here which can be eousid('red as wild; we have seen two only on this side of the MuscleshelJ J•ivcr l\'hich WCI'C without owners, and even those a)Owugh siJy, showed every mark of ha · •· · · vmg uecn once Jn tlw possesswn of man. 'I'ho ori,·imtl sto k . • o • e was pt·ocur·cd from the Spa-mal ds, but they now ratse theii· o\vn '1,1 I neraI Iy very fin f' d · . ac wrses a1·c ge- • 1 e, o a goo SJze, ·vigorous and pati~nt of fat•gue ns W('II as hunget· E~ h . . • au wat'I'Ior has one Ol' two tied to a stake neat• his hut both day and night, su as to be always preJuu·cd for ac4 · Tl • ,1on. 10 mules a1·e obtained in the COUI'Se of tt•ade ft•om th 8 · ' .1 • e pamarus, w1tb whose brands sevm:al of them are marked, or stolen from them by the frontier· Indians. 'l'hey are the finest animals of that kind we have ever seen 'Lnd t tl . .1· . · , • a us ulstance f1·om the Spanish colomes are ve1·y hinohJ , 1 1 , o Y va uec. The worst at·e consider~ ed as worth the pr ic f t 1 . eo wo tprses, and a good mule cannot he obtamed for Jess than tl • d . ' u ee an sometJme'i four horses. U11 the Missouri. ·123 We also saw a bridle bit, stirrUJlS and several other articles which. like the mules, came from the Stlnnish colo· nies. 'I'J1c Shoshonces say that they can reach those set­tlements in ten days' march by the route ot' the Yellow­stone river; but we readily pcrcoivo that the Spaniards arc by no means favout·ites. They complain that the Spa­nianls refuse to let them have iirc arms mulct• pt·ctcncc that these dangerous weapons will only induce them to kill each other. Iu the meantime, say the Sho honccs, we arc left. to the mercy of the Minnetarecs, who having arms, plundc1· them of their hot•ses, and put them to death with· out met·cy. "Dut thi should not be," said Camcahwait. fiercely, "if we had guns, instead of hiding ourselves in the mountains and living like the beat·s on roots and ber­ries, we would then go down and live in the bum1Ioc coun­try in spite of our enemies, whom we nevct• feat• when we Jl)cet on equal terms." As war is the chief occupation, bravery is the fit·st vit·­tuc ~unong the Shoshonees. None can hope to be distin­guished without haviug given JH'Oofs of it, nor can thct·e be any IH'Cfcrment, ot• inJluence among the nation, without some wal'likc achievement. 'l'hosc important events which give t'e}mtation to a watTior, and which entitle him to a. new name, arc killing a white bem·, stealing individually the horses of the enemy, leading out a paa·ty who 1lap}lCD to be successful cithct• in plundering horses or destl·oying the enemy, and lastly scalping a wat·l'iot·. ri'hese acts seem 6r nearly equal dignify, but the last, that of taking an ene­my's sealt>, is an honour <Iuitc indej)cndcnt of the act of Tanc1uishing him. 'I'o kill your advcrsaa·y is of no import .. ance unless the scalp is brought from tho field of battle, and were a warrio1· to slay any number of his enemies in action, and others were to obtain the scalps or flrst toucb the dead, they would have all the honout·s, since they have borne off the trophy.