[Clark:]
Wednesday June 25th. 1806
last evening the indians entertained us with setting the fir
trees on fire. they have a great number of dry limbs near
their bodies which when Set on fire create a very sudden and
emmence blaize from bottom to top of those tall trees. they
are a boutifull object in this situation at night. this exhibition
remi[n]de[d] me of a display of firewo[r]ks. the nativs told
us that their object in Setting those trees on fire was to bring
fair weather for our journey. We collected our horses and
set out at an early hour this morning. one of our guides
complained of being unwell, a Symptom which I did not much
like as such complaints with an indian is generally the prelude
to his abandoning any enterprize with which he is not well
pleased. we left 4 of those indians at our encampment they
promised to pursue us in a fiew hours. at 11 A.M. we arrived
at the branch of hungary Creek where we found Jo. &
R. Fields. they had not killed anything. here we halted
and dined and our guides overtook us. at this place the
squaw collected a parcel of roots of which the Shoshones Eat.
it is a small knob root a good deel in flavour and consistency
like the Jerusolem artichoke. it has two small smooth oval
leaves placed opposit on either Side of the peduncle just above
the root. the scope [scape] is only about 4 inches long is
round and Smooth. the roots of this plant forms one of the
collection of roots which D—. took from the Shoshones last
fall on the head of Jefferson river. after dinner we continued
our rout to hungary creek and encamped about one and a half
miles below our Encampment of the 61
th. inst: The indians
all continue with us and I beleive are disposed to be faithfull
to their engagements. Cap
t. L. gave the sick indian a small
buffalow robe which he brought from the Missouri, this indian
having no other Covering except his mockersons and a dressed
Elk skin without the hair. Drewyer & Shields were sent on
this morning to hungary Creek in serch of their horses which
they fortunately recovered. came [blank space in MS.] miles
to daye.
