Tuesday June 10th. 1806.
rose early this morning and had all the horses collected
except one of Whitehouses horses which could not be found,
an Indian promised to find the horse and bring him on to us
at the quawmash fields at which place we intend to delay a
fiew days for the laying in some meat by which time we calculate
that the Snows will have melted more off the mountains
and the grass raised to a sufficient hight for our horses to live.
we packed up and Set out at 11 A M we set out with the
party each man being well mounted and a light load on a 2d
horse, besides which we have several supernumary horses in
case of accident or the want of provisions, we therefore feel
ourselves perfectly equiped for the Mountains. we assended
the hills which are very high and about three miles in extent
our course being N.22d. E, thence N.15°.W 2 Ms: to Collins
Creek. Thence North 5 Miles to the Eastern boarders of the
Quawmash flatts where we encamped near the place I first met
with the Chopunnish Nation last fall. the pass of Collins
Creek was deep and extreemly difficult tho' we passed without
sustaining further injury than wetting some of our roots and
bread. The Country through which we passed is extreemly
fertile and generally free from Stone, is well timbered with
several Species of fir, long leafed pine and Larch. the undergrowth
is choke cherry near the watercourses, black alder, a
large species of red root now in blume, a Growth which resembles
the poppaw in it's leaf, and which bears a berry with
five valves of a deep purple colour, two species of shoemate,
seven bark, perple haw, service berry, Goose berry, wildrose,
honey suckle which bears a white berry, and a Species of dwart
pine which grows about 10 or 12 feet high, bears a globarlar
formed cone with small scales, the leaf is about the length and
much the appearance of the pitch pine haveing it's leaves in
fassicles of two; in other respects they would at a little distance
be taken for the young plants of the long leafed pine. There
are two Species of the wild rose both quinque petallous and of
a damask red, but the one is as large as the common red rose
of our guardens. I observed the apples of these Species last
fall to be more than triple the size of those of the ordinary
wild rose; the stem of this rose is the same with the other tho'
the leaf is somewhat larger. after we encamped this evening
we Sent out our hunters; Collins killed a doe on which we
Suped much to our satisfaction, we had not reached the top
of the river hills before we were overtaken by a party of 8
Indians who informed me that they were gowing to the quawmash
flatts to hunt; their object I belive is the expectation of
being fed by us in which however
kind as they have been we
must disappoint them at this moment as it is necessary that we
should use all frugallaty as well as employ every exertion to
provide meat for our journey. they have encamped with us.
we find a great number of burrowing squirels about our camp
of which we killed several; I eate of them and found them
quit[e] as tender and well flav
d. as our grey squirrel. Saw many
sand hill crains and some ducks in the Slashey Glades about
this place.
