OCR Text |
Show !1<66 Lewis and Cla~·ke•s Expedition with the few articlrs he daancrd to have in his pockets, and having senttlwm by one of the men and a hired Indian back to captain Lewis, he went on towards the camp of the Twisted. hair. It was four o~clock bef01·e hr set out, and the ni(plit b soon came on; but having met an Indian coming from the river, tln~y engaged him by a present of a neckcloth, to guide them to the Twisted-haia·'s camp. For t wclve mil~?s thry proceeded through the }llain bel'ore they reached the J•ivrr hills, which are very high and steep. The whole valleyfr·om these hills to the Rocky mountain is a beautiful level country, with a rich soil covered with grass: there is, laowever, but little timber, and the gt·ound is badly watered: tlae plain is so much lower than the surrounding hills. or so much sheltered hy them, that the weather is quite "'arm, while tbe cold of the mountains was extreme. Fr·om the top of the river. hills they proceeded down for tlu·cc miles till they reached the water side, between eleven and twelve o"clock at night: here we found a small camp of five squaws and three children, the chief himself being encamped, with two otl1ers, on a small ~land in the ri\'rr: the guide called to him and he soon eame over. Captain Clarke gave him a medal, and they smoked together till one o"clocl~. We could not set out till eleven o'clock, be<'nuse being obliged in the evening to loosen our horsrs to c.'nable them to find subsistence, it is always difficult to collect them in the morning. At that hour we eontinued along the ridge on wJ1ich we ha(l slept, and at a mile and a half reached a )a!'ge creek running to our left, just above its junction with one of its branches. We proceeded down the low grounds of this ercrk, which are le,·el, wide, anc..l heavily timbered, but turned to the right at the distance of two and a half miles, and began to pass the broken and hilly country; but the thick timber had fallen in so many places tlaat we could scarcely make our way. After going five miles we passrd the creek on which captain Clarke bad encamped during the night of the 19th, and r.ontinued five milea further O'\'Cr tbf Up the Missow,.i. 467 same kind of road, till we came to the forks of a large creek. We CJ'ossed the nortl1ern bt·anch of this stream, and pro .. eeedrd down it on the west side for a mile: here we found a smaJl plain where there was tolerable grass for the horses, and therefore remained during the night, having made fifteen miles on a course 8. 30° W. The arbor vitre increases in size ancl quantity as we advaneP: so111e of the trees we passed to day being capable of forming periogues at !east forty five feet in length. We were so fortunate also as to kill a few pheasants and a prairie wolf, which, with the rcmaiode1· of 1he horse. supplied us with one meal. the last of our pt•oviiions, our food for the morrow being wholly dependent ou the chance of our guns. Sunday, 22. Captain Clarke passed over to the island with the Twisted-hair, who seemed to be cheerful and sincere iu his conduct. The river a.t this place is about one hundred and sixty yards wide, but interrupted by shoals, and the low grounds on its borders are narrow. 'I'he hunters brought in three deer; after which captain Clarke left his party, and accompanied by the Twisted-hair and his son, rode back to the village, where be arr·ived about sunset: they then walked U}l together to the second village, wl1ere we bad just arrived. We ball intended to set o~t early, but one of the men having neglected to hobble lns l10rse he strayed away, ant1 we were obliged to wait till nearly t welyc o'clock. 'Ve then proceeded on a westet·n course for two and a half miles, when we met the bunters sent by captain Clarke from the village, seven and a half miles distant, with pr·ovisions. This supply was most seasonable, as we had tasted nothing since last night, and the fish, and roots, and ber·ries, in addition to a crow which we killed on the route, completely satisfied out' hunger. After this t•cfres~ment we proceeded in much better spil'its, ant\ at a few mJles were overtaken by the two men who had been sent back a~"ter a horse ~n the 20th. They were perfectly exhausted With th~ fa,. VOL. I. 3 N |