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Meriwether Lewis and William Clark - History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, Vol. I.

M >> Meriwether Lewis and William Clark >> History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, Vol. I.




The country has now become desert and barren: the appearances of coal,
burnt earth, pumicestone, salts, and quartz, continue as yesterday: but
there is no timber except the thinly scattered pine and spruce on the
summits of the hills, or along the sides. The only animals we have
observed are the elk, the bighorn, and the hare, common in this country.
In the plain where we lie are two Indian cabins made of sticks, and
during the last few days we have passed several others in the points of
timber on the river.

Monday, 27. The wind was so high that we did not start till ten o'clock,
and even then were obliged to use the line during the greater part of
the day. The river has become very rapid with a very perceptible
descent: its general width is about two hundred yards: the shoals too
are more frequent, and the rocky points at the mouth of the gullies more
troublesome to pass: great quantities of this stone lie in the river and
on its banks, and seem to have fallen down as the rain washed away the
clay and sand in which they were imbedded. The water is bordered by high
rugged bluffs, composed of irregular but horizontal stratas of yellow
and brown or black clay, brown and yellowish white sand, soft yellowish
white sandstone: hard dark brown freestone; and also large round kidney
formed irregular separate masses of a hard black ironstone, imbedded in
the clay and sand; some coal or carbonated wood also makes its
appearance in the cliffs, as do also its usual attendants the
pumicestone and burnt earth. The salts and quartz are less abundant, and
generally speaking the country is if possible more rugged and barren
than that we passed yesterday; the only growth of the hills being a few
pine, spruce, and dwarf cedar, interspersed with an occasional contrast
once in the course of some miles, of several acres of level ground,
which supply a scanty subsistence for a few little cottonwood trees.

Soon after setting out we passed a small untimbered island on the south:
at about seven miles we reached a considerable bend which the river
makes towards the southeast, and in the evening, after making twelve and
a half miles, encamped on the south near two dead cottonwood trees, the
only timber for fuel which we could discover in the neighbourhood.

Tuesday, 28. The weather was dark and cloudy; the air smoky, and there
fell a few drops of rain. At ten o'clock we had again a slight
sprinkling of rain, attended with distant thunder, which is the first we
have heard since leaving the Mandans. We employed the line generally,
with the addition of the pole at the ripples and rocky points, which we
find more numerous and troublesome than those we passed yesterday. The
water is very rapid round these points, and we are sometimes obliged to
steer the canoes through the points of sharp rocks rising a few inches
above the surface of the water, and so near to each other that if our
ropes give way the force of the current drives the sides of the canoe
against them, and must inevitably upset them or dash them to pieces.
These cords are very slender, being almost all made of elkskin, and much
worn and rotted by exposure to the weather: several times they gave way,
but fortunately always in places where there was room for the canoe to
turn without striking the rock; yet with all our precautions it was with
infinite risk and labour that we passed these points. An Indian pole for
building floated down the river, and was worn at one end as if dragged
along the ground in travelling; several other articles were also brought
down by the current, which indicate that the Indians are probably at no
great distance above us, and judging from a football which resembles
those used by the Minnetarees near the Mandans, we conjecture that they
must be a band of the Minnetarees of fort de Prairie. The appearance of
the river and the surrounding country continued as usual, till towards
evening, at about fifteen miles, we reached a large creek on the north
thirty-five yards wide, discharging some water, and named after one of
our men Thompson's creek. Here the country assumed a totally different
aspect; the hills retired on both sides from the river, which now
spreads to more than three times its former size, and is filled with a
number of small handsome islands covered with cottonwood. The low
grounds on the river are again wide, fertile, and enriched with trees;
those on the north are particularly wide, the hills being comparatively
low and opening into three large vallies, which extend themselves for a
considerable distance towards the north: these appearances of vegetation
are delightful after the dreary hills over which we have passed, and we
have now to congratulate ourselves at having escaped from the last
ridges of the Black mountains. On leaving Thompson's creek we passed two
small islands, and at twenty-three miles distance encamped among some
timber on the north, opposite to a small creek, which we named Bull
creek. The bighorn is in great quantities, and must bring forth their
young at a very early season, as they are now half grown. One of the
party saw a large bear also, but being at a distance from the river, and
having no timber to conceal him, he would not venture to fire.

Wednesday, 29. Last night we were alarmed by a new sort of enemy. A
buffaloe swam over from the opposite side and to the spot where lay one
of our canoes, over which he clambered to the shore: then taking fright
he ran full speed up the bank towards our fires, and passed within
eighteen inches of the heads of some of the men, before the sentinel
could make him change his course: still more alarmed he ran down between
four fires and within a few inches of the heads of the second row of the
men, and would have broken into our lodge if the barking of the dog had
not stopped him. He suddenly turned to the right and was out of sight in
a moment, leaving us all in confusion, every one seizing his rifle and
inquiring the cause of the alarm. On learning what had happened, we had
to rejoice at suffering no more injury than the damage to some guns
which were in the canoe which the buffaloe crossed.

In the morning early we left our camp, and proceeded as usual by the
cord. We passed an island and two sandbars, and at the distance of two
and a half miles we came to a handsome river which discharges itself on
the south, and which we ascended to the distance of a mile and a half:
we called it Judith's river: it rises in the Rock mountains in about
the same place with the Muscleshell and near the Yellowstone river. Its
entrance is one hundred yards wide from one bank to the other, the water
occupying about seventy-five yards, and in greater quantity than that of
the Muscleshell river, and though more rapid equally navigable, there
being no stones or rocks in the bed, which is composed entirely of
gravel and mud with some sand: the water too is clearer than any which
we have yet seen; and the low grounds, as far as we could discern, wider
and more woody than those of the Missouri: along its banks we observed
some box-alder intermixed with the cottonwood and the willow; the
undergrowth consisting of rosebushes, honeysuckle, and a little red
willow. There was a great abundance of the argalea or bighorned animals
in the high country through which it passes, and a great number of the
beaver in its waters: just above the entrance of it we saw the fires of
one hundred and twenty-six lodges, which appeared to have been deserted
about twelve or fifteen days, and on the other side of the Missouri a
large encampment, apparently made by the same nation. On examining some
moccasins which we found there, our Indian woman said that they did not
belong to her own nation the Snake Indians, but she thought that they
indicated a tribe on this side of the Rocky mountain, and to the north
of the Missouri; indeed it is probable that these are the Minnetarees of
fort de Prairie. At the distance of six and a half miles the hills again
approach the brink of the river, and the stones and rocks washed down
from them form a very bad rapid, with rocks and ripples more numerous
and difficult than those we passed on the 27th and 28th; here the same
scene was renewed, and we had again to struggle and labour to preserve
our small craft from being lost. Near this spot are a few trees of the
ash, the first we have seen for a great distance, and from which we
named the place Ash Rapids. On these hills there is but little timber,
but the salts, coal, and other mineral appearances continue. On the
north we passed a precipice about one hundred and twenty feet high,
under which lay scattered the fragments of at least one hundred carcases
of buffaloes, although the water which had washed away the lower part of
the hill must have carried off many of the dead. These buffaloe had been
chased down the precipice in a way very common on the Missouri, and by
which vast herds are destroyed in a moment. The mode of hunting is to
select one of the most active and fleet young men, who is disguised by a
buffaloe skin round his body; the skin of the head with the ears and
horns fastened on his own head in such a way as to deceive the buffaloe:
thus dressed, he fixes himself at a convenient distant between a herd of
buffaloe and any of the river precipices, which sometimes extend for
some miles. His companions in the meantime get in the rear and side of
the herd, and at a given signal show themselves, and advance towards the
buffaloe: they instantly take the alarm, and finding the hunters beside
them, they run towards the disguised Indian or decoy, who leads them on
at full speed toward the river, when suddenly securing himself in some
crevice of the cliff which he had previously fixed on, the herd is left
on the brink of the precipice: it is then in vain for the foremost to
retreat or even to stop; they are pressed on by the hindmost rank, who
seeing no danger but from the hunters, goad on those before them till
the whole are precipitated and the shore is strewn with their dead
bodies. Sometimes in this perilous seduction the Indian is himself
either trodden under root by the rapid movements of the buffaloe, or
missing his footing in the cliff is urged down the precipice by the
falling herd. The Indians then select as much meat as they wish, and the
rest is abandoned to the wolves, and create a most dreadful stench. The
wolves who had been feasting on these carcases were very fat, and so
gentle that one of them was killed with an esponton. Above this place we
came to for dinner at the distance of seventeen miles, opposite to a
bold running river of twenty yards wide, and falling in on the south.
From the objects we had just passed we called this stream Slaughter
river. Its low grounds are narrow, and contain scarcely any timber. Soon
after landing it began to blow and rain, and as there was no prospect of
getting wood for fuel farther on, we fixed our camp on the north, three
quarters of a mile above Slaughter river. After the labours of the day
we gave to each man a dram, and such was the effect of long abstinence
from spirituous liquors, that from the small quantity of half a gill of
rum, several of the men were considerably affected by it, and all very
much exhilirated. Our game to-day consisted of an elk and two beaver.

Thursday, 30. The rain which commenced last evening continued with
little intermission till eleven this morning, when the high wind which
accompanied it having abated, we set out. More rain has now fallen than
we have had since the 1st of September last, and many circumstances
indicate our approach to a climate differing considerably from that of
the country through which we have been passing: the air of the open
country is astonishingly dry and pure. Observing that the case of our
sextant, though perfectly seasoned, shrank and the joints opened, we
tried several experiments, by which it appeared that a tablespoon full
of water exposed in a saucer to the air would evaporate in thirty-six
hours, when the mercury did not stand higher than the temperate point at
the greatest heat of the day. The river, notwithstanding the rain, is
much clearer than it was a few days past; but we advance with great
labour and difficulty; the rapid current, the ripples and rocky points
rendering the navigation more embarrassing than even that of yesterday,
in addition to which the banks are now so slippery after the rain, that
the men who draw the canoes can scarcely walk, and the earth and stone
constantly falling down the high bluffs make it dangerous to pass under
them; still however we are obliged to make use of the cord, as the wind
is strong ahead, the current too rapid for oars, and too deep for the
pole. In this way we passed at the distance of five and a half miles a
small rivulet in a bend on the north, two miles further an island on the
same side, half a mile beyond which came to a grove of trees at the
entrance of a run in a bend to the south, and encamped for the night on
the northern shore. The eight miles which we made to-day cost us much
trouble. The air was cold and rendered more disagreeable by the rain,
which fell in several slight showers in the course of the day; our cords
too broke several times, but fortunately without injury to the boats. On
ascending the hills near the river, one of the party found that there
was snow mixed with the rain on the heights: a little back of these the
country becomes perfectly level on both sides of the river. There is now
no timber on the hills, and only a few scattering cottonwood, ash,
box-alder, and willows, along the water. In the course of the day we
passed several encampments of Indians, the most recent of which seemed
to have been evacuated about five weeks since, and from the several
apparent dates we supposed that they were made by a band of about one
hundred lodges who were travelling slowly up the river. Although no part
of the Missouri from the Minnetarees to this place exhibit signs of
permanent settlements, yet none seem exempt from the transient visits of
hunting parties. We know that the Minnetarees of the Missouri extend
their excursions on the south side of the river, as high as the
Yellowstone; and the Assiniboins visit the northern side, most probably
as high as Porcupine river. All the lodges between that place and the
Rocky mountains we supposed to belong to the Minnetarees of fort de
Prairie, who live on the south fork of the Saskashawan.

Friday, 31. We proceeded in two periogues, leaving the canoes to bring
on the meat of two buffaloes killed last evening. Soon after we set off
it began to rain, and though it ceased at noon, the weather continued
cloudy during the rest of the day. The obstructions of yesterday still
remain and fatigue the men excessively: the banks are so slippery in
some places and the mud so adhesive that they are unable to wear their
moccasins; one fourth of the time they are obliged to be up to their
armpits in the cold water, and sometimes walk for several yards over the
sharp fragments of rocks which have fallen from the hills: all this
added to the burden of dragging the heavy canoes is very painful, yet
the men bear it with great patience and good humour. Once the rope of
one of the periogues, the only one we had made of hemp, broke short, and
the periogue swung and just touched a point of rock which almost overset
her. At nine miles we came to a high wall of black rock rising from the
water's edge on the south, above the cliffs of the river: this continued
about a quarter of a mile, and was succeeded by a high open plain, till
three miles further a second wall two hundred feet high rose on the same
side. Three miles further a wall of the same kind about two hundred feet
high and twelve in thickness, appeared to the north: these hills and
river cliffs exhibit a most extraordinary and romantic appearance: they
rise in most places nearly perpendicular from the water, to the height
of between two and three hundred feet, and are formed of very white
sandstone, so soft as to yield readily to the impression of water, in
the upper part of which lie imbedded two or three thin horizontal
stratas of white freestone insensible to the rain, and on the top is a
dark rich loam, which forms a gradually ascending plain, from a mile to
a mile and a half in extent, when the hills again rise abruptly to the
height of about three hundred feet more. In trickling down the cliffs,
the water has worn the soft sandstone into a thousand grotesque figures,
among which with a little fancy may be discerned elegant ranges of
freestone buildings, with columns variously sculptured, and supporting
long and elegant galleries, while the parapets are adorned with
statuary: on a nearer approach they represent every form of elegant
ruins; columns, some with pedestals and capitals entire, others
mutilated and prostrate, and some rising pyramidally over each other
till they terminate in a sharp point. These are varied by niches,
alcoves, and the customary appearances of desolated magnificence: the
allusion is increased by the number of martins, who have built their
globular nests in the niches and hover over these columns; as in our
country they are accustomed to frequent large stone structures. As we
advance there seems no end to the visionary enchantment which surrounds
us. In the midst of this fantastic scenery are vast ranges of walls,
which seem the productions of art, so regular is the workmanship: they
rise perpendicularly from the river, sometimes to the height of one
hundred feet, varying in thickness from one to twelve feet, being
equally broad at the top as below. The stones of which they are formed
are black, thick, and durable, and composed of a large portion of earth,
intermixed and cemented with a small quantity of sand, and a
considerable proportion of talk or quartz. These stones are almost
invariably regular parallelipeds of unequal sizes in the wall, but
equally deep, and laid regularly in ranges over each other like bricks,
each breaking and covering the interstice of the two on which it rests:
but though the perpendicular interstice be destroyed, the horizontal one
extends entirely through the whole work: the stones too are proportioned
to the thickness of the wall in which they are employed, being largest
in the thickest walls. The thinner walls are composed of a single depth
of the paralleliped, while the thicker ones consist of two or more
depths: these walls pass the river at several places, rising from the
water's edge much above the sandstone bluffs which they seem to
penetrate; thence they cross in a straight line on either side of the
river, the plains over which they tower to the height of from ten to
seventy feet, until they lose themselves in the second range of hills:
sometimes they run parallel in several ranges near to each other,
sometimes intersect each other at right angles, and have the appearance
of walls of ancient houses or gardens.

The face of some of these river hills, is composed of very excellent
freestone of a light yellowish brown colour, and among the cliffs we
found a species of pine which we had not yet seen, and differing from
the Virginia pitchpine in having a shorter leaf, and a longer and more
pointed cone. The coal appears only in small quantities, as do the burnt
earth and pumicestone: the mineral salts have abated. Among the animals
are a great number of the bighorn, a few buffaloe and elk, and some
mule-deer, but none of the common deer nor any antelopes. We saw but
could not procure a beautiful fox, of a colour varied with orange,
yellow, white, and black, rather smaller than the common fox of this
country, and about the same size as the red fox of the United States.

The river to-day has been from about one hundred and fifty to two
hundred and fifty yards wide, with but little timber. At the distance of
two miles and a half from the last stone wall, is a stream on the north
side, twenty-eight yards in width, and with some running water. We
encamped just above its mouth having made eighteen miles.

Saturday, June 1. The weather was cloudy with a few drops of rain. As we
proceeded by the aid of our cord we found the river cliffs and bluffs
not so high as yesterday, and the country more level. The timber too is
in greater abundance on the river, though there is no wood on the high
ground; coal however appears in the bluffs. The river is from two
hundred to two hundred and fifty feet wide, the current more gentle, the
water becoming still clearer and fewer rocky points and shoals than we
met yesterday, though those which we did encounter were equally
difficult to pass. Game is by no means in such plenty as below; all that
we obtained were one bighorn, and a mule-deer though we saw in the
plains a quantity of buffaloe, particularly near a small lake about
eight miles from the river to the south. Notwithstanding the wind was
ahead all day, we dragged the canoes along the distance of twenty-three
miles. At fourteen and a quarter miles, we came to a small island
opposite a bend of the river to the north: two and a half miles to the
upper point of a small island on the north; five miles to another island
on the south side and opposite to a bluff. In the next two miles we
passed an island on the south, a second beyond it on the north, and
reached near a high bluff on the north a third on which we encamped.
In the plains near the river are the chokecherry, yellow and red
currant-bushes, as well as the wild rose and prickly pear, both of which
are now in bloom. From the tops of the river hills, which are lower
than usual, we enjoyed a delightful view of the rich fertile plains on
both sides, in many places extending from the river cliffs to a great
distance back. In these plains we meet occasionally large banks of pure
sand, which were driven apparently by the southwest winds, and there
deposited. The plains are more fertile some distance from the river
than near its banks, where the surface of the earth is very generally
strewed with small pebbles, which appear to be smoothed and worn by the
agitation of the waters with which they were no doubt once covered. A
mountain or part of the North mountain approaches the river within
eight or ten miles, bearing north from our encampment of last evening;
and this morning a range of high mountains bearing S.W. from us and
apparently running to the westward, are seen at a great distance covered
with snow. In the evening we had a little more rain.

Sunday 2. The wind blew violently last night, and a slight shower of
rain fell, but this morning was fair. We set out at an early hour, and
although the wind was ahead by means of the cord went on much better
than for the last two days, as the banks were well calculated for
towing. The current of the river is strong but regular, its timber
increases in quantity, the low grounds become more level and extensive,
and the bluffs on the river are lower than usual. In the course of the
day we had a small shower of rain, which lasted a few minutes only. As
the game is very abundant we think it necessary to begin a collection
of hides for the purpose of making a leathern boat, which we intend
constructing shortly. The hunters who were out the greater part of the
day brought in six elk, two buffaloe, two mule-deer and a bear. This
last animal had nearly cost us the lives of two of our hunters who were
together when he attacked them: one of them narrowly escaped being
caught, and the other after running a considerable distance, concealed
himself in some thick bushes, and while the bear was in quick pursuit of
his hiding place, his companion came up and fortunately shot the animal
through the head.

At six and at half miles we reached an island on the northern side; one
mile and a quarter thence is a timbered low ground on the south: and in
the next two and three quarter miles we passed three small islands, and
came to a dark bluff on the south: within the following mile are two
small islands on the same side. At three and a quarter miles we reached
the lower part of a much larger island near a northern point, and as we
coasted along its side, within two miles passed a smaller island, and
half a mile above reached the head of another. All these islands are
small, and most of them contain some timber. Three quarters of a mile
beyond the last, and at the distance of eighteen miles from our
encampment, we came to for the night in a handsome low cottonwood plain
on the south, where we remained for the purpose of making some celestial
observations during the night, and of examining in the morning a large
river which comes in opposite to us. Accordingly at an early hour,

Monday, 3d, we crossed and fixed our camp in the point, formed by the
junction of the river with the Missouri. It now became an interesting
question which of these two streams is what the Minnetarees call
Ahmateahza or the Missouri, which they described as approaching very
near to the Columbia. On our right decision much of the fate of the
expedition depends; since if after ascending to the Rocky mountains or
beyond them, we should find that the river we were following did not
come near the Columbia, and be obliged to return; we should not only
lose the travelling season, two months of which had already elapsed, but
probably dishearten the men so much as to induce them either to abandon
the enterprise, or yield us a cold obedience instead of the warm and
zealous support which they had hitherto afforded us. We determined,
therefore, to examine well before we decided on our future course; and
for this purpose despatched two canoes with three men up each of the
streams with orders to ascertain the width, depth, and rapidity of the
current, so as to judge of their comparative bodies of water. At the
same time parties were sent out by land to penetrate the country, and
discover from the rising grounds, if possible, the distant bearings of
the two rivers; and all were directed to return towards evening. While
they were gone we ascended together the high grounds in the fork of
these two rivers, whence we had a very extensive prospect of the
surrounding country: on every side it was spread into one vast plain
covered with verdure, in which innumerable herds of buffaloe were
roaming, attended by their enemies the wolves: some flocks of elk also
were seen, and the solitary antelopes were scattered with their young
over the face of the plain. To the south was a range of lofty mountains,
which we supposed to be a continuation of the South mountain, stretching
themselves from southeast to northwest, and terminating abruptly about
southwest from us. These were partially covered with snow; but at a
great distance behind them was a more lofty ridge completely covered
with snow, which seemed to follow the same direction as the first,
reaching from west to the north of northwest, where their snowy tops
were blended with the horizon. The direction of the rivers could not
however be long distinguished, as they were soon lost in the extent of
the plain. On our return we continued our examination; the width of the
north branch is two hundred yards, that of the south is three hundred
and seventy-two. The north, although narrower and with a gentler
current, is deeper than the south: its waters too are of the same
whitish brown colour, thickness, and turbidness: they run in the same
boiling and rolling manner which has uniformly characterized the
Missouri; and its bed is composed of some gravel, but principally mud.
The south fork is deeper, but its waters are perfectly transparent: its
current is rapid, but the surface smooth and unruffled; and its bed too
is composed of round and flat smooth stones like those of rivers issuing
from a mountainous country. The air and character of the north fork so
much resemble those of the Missouri that almost all the party believe
that to be the true course to be pursued. We however, although we have
given no decided opinion, are inclined to think otherwise, because,
although this branch does give the colour and character to the Missouri,
yet these very circumstances induce an opinion that it rises in and runs
through an open plain country, since if it came from the mountains it
would be clearer, unless, which from the position of the country is
improbable, it passed through a vast extent of low ground after leaving
them: we thought it probable that it did not even penetrate the Rocky
mountains, but drew it sources from the open country towards the lower
and middle parts of the Saskashawan, in a direction north of this place.
What embarrasses us most is, that the Indians who appeared to be well
acquainted with the geography of the country, have not mentioned this
northern river; for "the river which scolds at all others," as it is
termed, must be according to their account one of the rivers which we
have passed; and if this north fork be the Missouri, why have they not
designated the south branch which they must also have passed, in order
to reach the great falls which they mention on the Missouri. In the
evening our parties returned, after ascending the rivers in canoes for
some distance, then continuing on foot, just leaving themselves time to
return by night. The north fork was less rapid, and therefore afforded
the easiest navigation: the shallowest water of the north was five feet
deep, that of the south six feet. At two and a half miles up the north
fork is a small river coming in on the left or western side, sixty feet
wide, with a bold current three feet in depth. The party by land had
gone up the south fork in a straight line, somewhat north of west for
seven miles, where they discovered that this little river came within
one hundred yards of the south fork, and on returning down it found it a
handsome stream, with as much timber as either of the larger rivers,
consisting of the narrow and wide-leafed cottonwood, some birch and
box-alder, amid undergrowth of willows, rosebushes, and currants: they
also saw on this river a great number of elk and some beaver.

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