University of Virginia Library

Friday June 27th. 1806.

We collected our horses early and set out. the road still
continued on the heights of the same dividing ridge on which
we had traveled yesterday for nine miles or to our encampment
of the (17th.) of September last. about one mile short of
this encampment on an elivated point we halted by the request
of the Indians a few minutes and smoked the pipe. On this
eminence the natives have raised a conic mound of stones of
6 or eight feet high and on it's summit erected a pine pole of
15 feet long.[26] from hence they informed us that when passing
over with their famil[i]es some of the men were usually sent on
foot by the fishery at the entrance of Colt Creek in order to
take fish and again me[e]t the main party at the Quawmash
glade on the head of the Kooskooske river. from this place
we had an extensive view of these stupendous mountains principally
covered with snow like that on which we stood; we
were entirely surrounded by those mountains from which to
one unacquainted with them it would have seemed impossible
ever to have escaped; in short without the assistance of our
guides I doubt much whether we who had once passed them
could find our way to Travellers rest in their present situation
for the marked trees on which we had placed considerable reliance
are much fewer and more difficult to find than we had

apprehended. these fellows are most admireable pilots; we find
the road wherever the snow has disappeared though it be only
for a few hundred paces. after smoking the pipe and contemplating
this seene sufficient to have damp[ened] the sperits of
any except such hardy travellers as we have become, we continued
our march and at the distance of 3 ms. decended a steep
mountain[27] and passed two small branches of the Chopunnish
river just above their forks and again ascended the ridge on
which we passed several miles and at a distance of 7ms
arrived at our encampment [of the] (16th.) of September
near which we passed 3 small branches of the Chopunnish
river and again ascended to the dividing ridge on which we
continued nine miles when the ridge became lower and we
arrived at a situation very similar to our encampment of the
last evening tho' the ridge was somewhat higher and the snow
had not been so long desolved of course there was but little
grass. here we encamped for the night having traveled 28
miles over these mountains without releiving the horses from
their packs or their having any food. the indians inform us
that there is (in the mountains a little to our left) an abundance
of the mountain sheep or what they call white buffaloe. we saw
three black-tailed or mule deer this evening but were unable
to get a shoot at them. we also saw several tracks of those
animals in the snow. the indians inform that there is great
abundance of Elk in the vally about the Fishery on the Kooskooske
River. our meat being exhausted we issued a pint of
bears oil to a mess which with their boiled roots made an
agreeable dish. Potts's legg which has been much swolen and
inflamed for several days is much better this evening and gives
him but little pain. we applyed the pounded roots and leaves
of the wild ginger[28] from which he found great relief. neare
our encampment we saw a great number of the yellow lilly
with reflected petals in blume; this plant was just as forward
here at this time as it was in the plains on the 10th. of may.[29]