USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. I > Part 32
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The journal reads, "They left reluctantly this interesting spot, and pursuing the Indian road through the interval of the hills, arrived at the top of a ridge, from which they saw high mount- ains partially covered with snow still to the west of them. The ridge on which they stood formed the dividing line between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They followed a descent much steeper than that on the eastern side, and at the distance of three-quarters of a mile reached a handsome, bold creek of cold, clear water running to the westward. They stopped to taste for the first time the waters of the Columbia." 'They passed the succeeding night in this vicinity. The next
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morning they resumed the Indian road, which wound "along a waving plain parallel to the valley for about four miles, when they (liscovered two women, a man and some dogs on an eminence at the distance of a mile before them." Seeing the approaching whites, the Indians precipitately fled, apparently in great fear. Knowing from the presence of women that an Indian encamp- ment was near, Captain Lewis and party followed the trail left by the man and women for several miles, until they suddenly came within thirty paces of three females, from whom they had been concealed by a ravine.
The narrative continues, "One of them, a young woman, imme- diately took to flight ; the other two, an elderly woman and a little girl, seeing we were too near for them to escape, sat on the ground, and holding down their heads seemed as if reconciled to the death which they supposed awaited them. Cap- tain Lewis instantly put down his rifle, and advancing toward them, took the woman by the hand, raised her up, and repeated the words 'tabba bone,' at the same time stripping up his shirt sleeve to prove that he was a white man, for his hands and face had become by constant exposure quite as dark as their own. She appeared immediately relieved from her alarm, and Drewyer and Shields now coming up, Captain Lewis gave them some beads, a few awls, pewter mirrors and a little paint, and told Drewyer to request the woman to recall her companion who had escaped to some distance, and by alarming the Indians might cause them to attack him without any time for explanation. She did as she was desired, and the young woman returned almost out of breath; . Captain Lewis gave her an equal portion of trinkets, and painted the tawny cheeks of all three of them with vermillion, a ceremony which among the Shoshones is emblematic of peace. After they had become composed, he informed them by signs of his wish to go to their camp in order to see their chiefs and warriors : they readily obeyed, and conducted the party along the same road down the river. In this way they marched two miles, when they met a troop of nearly sixty warriors, mounted on excellent horses, riding at full speed toward them. As they advanced Captain Lewis put down his gun, and went with the flag about fifty paces in advance. The chief, who, with two men, was riding in front of the main body, spoke to the woman, who now explained that 'the party was composed of white men, and showed exultingly the presents they had received. The three men immediately leaped from their horses, came up to Captain Lewis and embraced him with great cordiality, putting their left arm over his right.
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shoulder and clasping his back; applying at the same time their left cheek to his, and frequently vociferating 'ah hi e! ah hi e!' (I am much pleased, I am much rejoiced). The whole body of warriors now came forward, and our men received the caresses and no small share of the grease and paint of their new friends." -
All now seated themselves in a circle, and Captain Lewis lighted a pipe and offered it to them to smoke; but before doing so they all removed their moccasins, "a custom, as we afterward learnt, which indicated a sacred sincerity of their professions when they smoke with a stranger, and which imprecates on them- selves the misery of going barefoot forever if they are faithless to their words, a penalty by no means light to those who rove over the thorny plains of their country." The chief, whose name was Ca-me-alı-wait, was told that the visit of the whites was friendly ; and he explained the same to his warriors. The whites were then conducted to the Shoshone camp, distant about four miles, where all again smoked the peace pipe, and where Captain Lewis explained more elaborately the objects of the expedition. All the presents they had with them were distributed among the women and children. Captain Lewis was informed that he was on a stream that flowed west to the Pacific; and when he saw salmon flesh among the Indians, he no longer doubted that he had really crossed the divide.
It was now learned that the Indians who had been seen previ- ously had mistaken the whites for a war party of the Minneta- rees, and had hurried back to their villages with the news in order that preparations might be made to repel the expected attack. The advance of the sixty warriors was for the purpose of strik- ing the enemy the first blow. Captain Lewis and his party remained at the Indian camp all night, and the next morning, accompanied by many of the Indians, started on their return to meet the remainder of the expedition. As they proceeded, a report was circulated among the Indians that the whites were but an advance of their enemy and were trying to lead them into an ambush; whereupon, in spite of all the endeavors of Captain Lewis, many of the Indians left them, and even the chiefs stopped for further consideration before proceeding. The women began to cry, which was another proof that an attack from an enemy was expected. Captain Lewis and his men did everything in their power to inspire confidence and anxiously hoped for the appearance of the remainder of the expedition, as it was realized that alone would fully remove the fears of the Indians. It was found that the Indians who had started back, were still follow-
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ing in the rear, and that they were advancing on the wings ready to strike an enemy should one appear. Thus several days passed, and the fears of the Indians seemed to increase rather than sub- side. They used the greatest precautions by sending out scouts in advance and on the flanks, and conducted themselves in every respect as if they were in the presence of their enemy. They even went so far as to place their own headgear and other articles of clothing on the whitemen, so that in case they proved to be members of the enemy they could not be distinguished from the Shoshones. Finally, in order to inspire confidence, if it was pos- sible, Captain Lewis and his companions delivered their rifles to the Indian chiefs and told them to kill them the moment their statements were found untrue. This was an extreme and dan- gerous proceeding, because any sudden alarm might cause the unwarranted shooting of the three men; but in their dangerous situation they concluded to take desperate chances. In the mean- time they looked anxiously for the appearance of the expedition. .
While these scenes were passing, the whole party, both whites and reds, were in the direst straits for food. Game was exceed- ingly shy and scarce, and all were forced to live on roots. The Indians were armed with nothing but bows and arrows, and could not, therefore, bring down the larger game except under the most favorable circumstances. Captain Lewis sent his compan- ions out to hunt (before they relinquished their guns), but they were followed closely by their suspicious friends. Finally, one of the Indian spies came running back at full speed, and as soon as the others heard his first words, the whole band, to the astonish- ment of Captain Lewis, dashed forward as fast as their horses . could carry them, and he was borne along for nearly a mile before he learned with great satisfaction that the rush was caused by the spy's announcement that one of the white men had killed a deer. "When they reached the place where Drewyer had thrown out the intestines, they all dismounted in confusion and ran tumbling over each other like famished dogs ; each tore away whatever part he could and instantly began to cat it; some had the liver, some the kidneys; in short no part on which we are accustomed to look with disgust escaped them. One of them who had seized about nine feet of the entrails, was chewing at one end, while with his hand he was diligently clearing his way by discharging the contents at the other. It was indeed impossible to see these wretches ravenously feeding on the filth of animals, and the blood streaming from their mouths, without deploring how nearly the condition of the savages approaches that of the brute creation ;
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yet though suffering with hunger they did not attempt, as they might have done, to take by force the whole deer, but contented themselves with what had been thrown away by the hunter. Captain Lewis now had the deer skinned and after reserving a quarter of it, gave the rest of the animal to the chief to be divided among the Indians, who immediately devoured nearly the whole of it without cooking. They now went forward to the creek, where there was some brushwood to make a fire, and found Drew- yer, who had killed a second deer; the same struggle for the entrails was renewed here, and on giving nearly the whole deer to the Indians, they devoured it, even to the soft part of the hoofs. A fire being made, Captain Lewis had his breakfast, during which Drewyer brought in a third deer; this too after reserving one quarter, was given to the Indians, who now seemed completely satisfied and in good humor."
As soon as the march was resumed, the old fear of an ambush was manifested, notwithstanding the friendly act of killing the deer and feeding them to the Indians; and the same precautions were taken as before. Finally, after the lapse of several days, an Indian scout, to the intense relief of Captain Lewis and his two companions, came running back with the announcement that he had seen the rest of the expedition a short distance below. "Thìe Indians were all transported with joy, and the chief in the warmth of his satisfaction renewed his embrace to Captain Lewis, who was quite as much delighted as the Indians themselves." The , report of the experience of the main body of the expedition is equally interesting. "On setting out at seven o'clock, Captain Clark, with Chaboncan and his wife, walked on shore; but they had not gone more than a mile before Captain Clark saw Sa-ca- ja-we-ah, who was with her husband one hundred yards ahead, begin to (lance and show every mark of the most extravagant joy, turning round him and pointing to several Indians, whom he now saw advancing on horseback, sucking her fingers at the same time to indicate that they were of her native tribe. As they advanced Captain Clark discovered among them Drewyer dressed like an Indian, from whom he learnt the situation of the party. While the boats were performing the circuit he went toward the forks with the Indians, who as they went along sang aloud with the greatest appearance of delight. We soon drew near to the camp, and just as we approached it, a woman made her way through the crowd towards Sa-ca-ja-we-ah, and recognizing each other, they embraced with the most tender affection. The meet- ing of these two young women had in it something peculiarly
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touching, not only in the ardent manner in which their feelings were expressed, but from the real interest of their situation. . After this the conference was to be opened, and glad of an opportunity of being able to converse more intelligently, Sa-ca- ja-we-ah was sent for; she came into the tent, sat down, and was beginning to interpret, when in the person of Ca-me-ah-wait she recognized her brother; she instantly jumped up and ran and embraced him, throwing over him her blanket and weeping pro- fusely ; the chief was himself moved, though not in the same degree. After some conversation between them, she resumed hier seat and attempted to interpret for us; but her new situation seemed to overpower her, and she was frequently interrupted by her tears. After the council was finished, the unfortunate woman learnt that all her family were dead except two brothers, one of whom was absent, and a son of her eldest sister, a small boy, who was immediately adopted by her."
The objects of the expedition were fully explained to the chief and the warriors present ; and they expressed their gratification at the prospect of being taken care of and protected from their enemies. They showed great regret that they would not be sup- plied with arms for a year or more. They were requested to furnish horses and a guide over the mountains, and were prom- ised remuneration therefor. All the usual treaty ceremonies were observed-speeches delivered, medals and flags bestowed and presents distributed. During the conference, the whites were careful to learn all possible regarding. the western country and the best methods of getting there. "A few horses were traded for on the ISth and a few more on the 19th. As game was very scarce, it was thought best to proceed at once, and the advance was resumed on the 18th. Two days later the Indian encampment. was passed, and here another council was held and presents were. distributed. At last an Indian who professed to know the west- ern country, was engaged to guide the party over the mountains, and assistants to help carry the baggage were secured.
Having advanced far enough to escape the importunities of the Indians, they decided to camp, while scouting parties went on ahead and explored the country through which they expected to pass. Captain Clark, with a small party, undertook to find a practicable route over the mountains. He started and encoun- tered small bands of Shoshones every day. All were astonished, though friendly ; they were found to have an abundance of salmon, but little other food. A stream was reached on the 21st, a head branch of the Columbia, which was named Lewis in honor
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of Captain Lewis. But Captain Clark failed utterly to find a satisfactory path down this stream. Everywhere he was con- fronted with steep mountains, around which the streams wound, with perpendicular banks rising from the water's edge to a great height. The streams themselves were so deep that a passage along their beds was impracticable. At length they were forced to leave their horses in order to make any progress at all ; but after several days spent in climbing almost inaccessible acclivities, it was seen that a path in that direction was out of the question, and it was determined to return to the main party, where they arrived on the 26th.
As it was now thought that the crossing of the mountains would be attended with the utmost hardships and difficulties, it was determined to "cache" the bulk of the supplies, in order to lighten the burden of the assistants and the horses and thus facili- tate the advance. The only unfriendly act of the Indians thus far was an attempt to steal the gun of one of the white hunters, Drewyer ; but owing to his courage and persistence the attempt was unsuccessful. The empty boats were sunk in the river and weighted down, and more horses were obtained through another . council. The Indians generally were now leaving the mountains for the plains to be near the wild game. All except Sa-ca-ja- we-ah and Captain Lewis were on foot, and the latter mounted only for the purpose of riding ahead to find the best path. It will thus be observed that although the expedition had really crossed the divide and reached the waters of the Columbia, the route down the streams there could not be followed, owing to the extreme roughness of the country. It was therefore necessary to find another pass.
After a sufficient number of horses was obtained to carry the goods, provisions, etc., of the expedition, and all was apparently ready for a start, it was discovered that the guides and assistants were unwilling to proceed, because they wished to accompany their tribe to the plains. The chief, Ca-mne-ah-wait, had promised faithfully to provide assistants for the expedition; but it now transpired that he and other chiefs had counseled their desertion ; this fact was learned through Sa-ca-ja-we-ah. Accordingly, the chief was taken to task by Captain Lewis, and hesitatingly admitted the truth of the charge; but excused himself by the state- ment that members of the tribe were compelled to follow the wild game or starve. An appeal was made to his honor; whereupon he countermanded his directions for desertion, and the guides and assistants again came promptly forward. It was severely cold at
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this time ( August 26th), the ice forming nearly a quarter of an inch thick. "One of the women who had been leading two of our pack horses halted at a rivulet about a mile behind, and sent on the two horses by a female friend ; on inquiring of Ca-me-ah- wait the cause of her detention, he answered with great appear- ance of unconcern that she had just stopped to lie in, but would soon overtake us. In fact we were astonished to see her in about an hour's time come on with her new-born infant and pass us on her way to the camp, apparently in perfect health."
But in spite of all that could be done to prevent it, the Indian assistants continued to desert and join their tribe destined for the buffalo meadows to the eastward, until, when the journey was resumed on the 30th, only the guides remained, "an okl Indian, his four sons and another Indian." However, they managed to secure enough horses to raise the number owned by the expedi- tion to about thirty. As they advanced, they coukl see fires from all quarters in the mountains, signaling the various bands to join the general exodus to the buffalo meadows. Soon they were again in trouble, owing to the fact that they undertook to cross the mountains at another impracticable spot. They succeeded in crossing the divide, but again met the same difficulties encoun- tered by Captain Clark and his party, for everywhere steep mount- ains, deep streams and other inaccessibilities sternly confronted them. They endeavored to pass down Fish creek on the west side, but were unable to do so. Often they were obliged to cut their way for a considerable distance, only to find themselves con- fronted by some insurmountable obstacle. Several of the horses were permanently injured by falling down some steep declivity, in one instance one rolling over and over for nearly a hundred yards. In the meantime every member of the expedition was restricted to the most meager allowance of food, as the wild ani- mals had almost wholly fled to the green meadows to the east- ward.
At length, by moving northwest, they crossed a very difficult ridge and found themselves on the headwaters of another river, which they later named Clark, in honor of Captain Clark. All their previous operations were in the valleys of the Missouri or the lewis river ; but in the Clark river valley they had no sooner crossed the divide than the country began to descend in milder lines to the northward and the route steadily became casier. On September 4th, a large encampment of the Cot-la-shoot Indians was reached, and a council was immediately held. Eleven more horses were traded for from a herd of about five hundred fine ones
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owned by this band. The Indians were friendly and supplied the expedition with such articles of food as they possessed. On the 6th, the main channel of Clark river was reached. They were now almost wholly dependent on their hunters for food, having nearly exhausted the supply of flour and pork they had thus far brought with them. They continued down this river almost directly northward, with the snow capped mountains on their left and the river valley on their right, until they at last reached a creek which they named 'Travelers' Rest. From this point, their guides informed them, a path led over the mountains to the val- ley of the Lewis river and to the open and level country.
'They now made preparations to leave the streams and scale the low mountains to the westward, and were told by their guides that after five days' journey they would reach the Lewis river valley. Travelers' Rest creek was ascended to its source, and then a northwest direction was taken over a very rough country. Their supply of food was now wholly exhausted, and the hunters could find no game. On the 14th they were on Kooskooskee creek, and here they were compelled to slaughter their first colt for supper. They were at last across the divide and in the modern State of Idaho. On the 16th six inches of snow fell ; they were compelled to kill another colt for food. The cold was severe and the route extremely rough ; but by the 19th they could see far to the west- ward a broad, level valley. In the meantime they had killed sev- eral other horses for food. The western descent was so steep that again several of the horses were disabled by falling down the sides of the mountains. A small stream was reached which was appropriately named Hungry creek.
The level country was at last reached on the 20th of Septem- ber, to the indescribable joy of every member of the party. Indian villages were seen dotting the banks of Kooskooskee creek, and soon the hunters began as of old to bring fat deer into camp. The Indians were found to be the Pierced Nose, or Cho-pun-nish tribe, the head chief of which was Twisted Hair, who lived some distance farther down stream. After this the expedition had no serious difficulty in reaching the mouth of the Columbia; but as the route was now outside of the boundary of the Louisiana pur- chase, the leading events only will be mentioned. The horses were finally turned over to the Indians to be kept until the return of the expedition ; and canoes were built, in which to float the baggage down the streams. Colter's creek was reached Octo- ber 8th, and the main channel of the Columbia on the 16th. The great falls were passed about the ist of November, and late in this.
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month all were delighted with a sight of the mighty Pacific. They remained encamped near the mouth of the Columbia during the winter of 1805-6, and in March set out up the river on their return. On the 5th of May they arrived at the mouth of the Kooskooskee, and on the 8th reached Twister Hair's camp. The horses had become scattered, but about twenty-one were finally assembled; and on the ioth of June preparations were fully com- pleted for the trip across the mountains to Travelers' Rest creek.
They advanced with great trouble up the steep acclivity, and were at length compelled wholly to stop at or near Hungry creek on account of the deep snow. When it had sufficiently melted, they resumed the terrible journey, and in the course of time passed over the divide, down the course of 'Travelers' Rest creek and encamped at the mouth of that stream. Here it was deter- mined to divide the party for the purpose of more thoroughly exploring the country to the eastward. Captain Lewis and nine men were to proceed on a direct course to the great falls of the Missouri, where three men were to be left to build carriages to carry the baggage around the falls, while Captain Lewis and the other six were to advance northward and explore Maria's river to its source. The remainder of the party were to go to the head- waters of Jefferson river, where the deposits were, and there divide. Sergeant Ordway and nine men were to descend the river with the stores, etc. Captain Clark and ten men were to proceedsto the headwaters of the Yellowstone river, taking with them all the horses, and upon their arrival there were to build boats and float down that stream to its mouth, where they were to await the arrival of the other detachments ; but in the meantime Sergeant Pryor and two other men were to drive the horses across the country to the Mandan villages on the Missouri, where they were to be left, and Pryor and his companions were then to take a message to the British post on the Assiniboine river in Canada. So far as possible, these designs were carried into execution.
While the expedition was together, it consisted of over thirty experienced riflemen of well-known courage, a force that all the Indian tribes except the Sioux fully respected; but when it was divided into detachments of three or even of nine or ten men danger from roving war parties of Indians might be expected at every encounter. But the dauntless men were willing to take their chances, either with roving bands of Indians or with grizzly bears; in fact, the majority of the men conrfed stirring and dan- gerous adventure, because they enjoyed it and because they were willing to take hazardous chances in order to distinguish them-
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