Wednesday July 16th. 1806.
I dispatched a man early this morning to drive up the horses
as usual, he returned at 8 A. M. with one of them only.
allarmed at this occurrence I dispatched one of my best hands
on horseback in surch of them he returned at 10 A.M. with
them and I immediately set out. sent Drewyer and R. Fields
with the horses to the lower side of Medecine river, and proceeded
myself with all our baggage and J. Fields down the
missouri to the mouth of Medecine river in our canoe of
buffaloe skins we were compelled to swim the horses above
the whitebear island and again across medicine river as the
Missouri is of great width below the mouth of that river.
having arrived safely below Medicine river we immediately
sadled our horses and proceeded down the river to the handsom
fall of 47 feet where I halted about 2 hours and took a
haisty sketch of these falls; in the mean time we had some
meat cooked and took dinner after which we proceeded to the
grand falls where we arrived at sunset. on our way we saw
two very large bear on the opposite side of the river. as we
arrived in sight of the little wood below the falls we saw two
other bear enter it; this being the only wood in the neighbourhood
we were compelled of course to contend with the bear
for possession, and therefore left our horses in a place of
security and entered the wood which we surched in vain for the
bear, they had fled. here we encamped and the evening having
the appearance of rain made our beds and slept under a shelving
rock. these falls have abated much of their grandure since
I first arrived at them in June 1805, the water being much
lower at prese[n]t than it was at that moment, however they
are still a sublimely grand object. I determined to take a
second drawing of it in the morning. we saw a few buffaloe
as we passed today, the immence hirds which were about this
place on our arrival have principally passed the river and
directed their course downwards. we see a number of goats
or antilopes always in passing through the plains of the Missouri
above the Mandans. at this season they are thinly
scattered over the plains but seem universally distributed in
every part; they appear very inquisitive usually to learn what
we are as we pass, and frequently accompany us at no great
distance for miles, frequently halting and giving a loud whistle
through their nostrils, they are a very pretty animal and astonishingly
fleet and active. we spent this evening free from the
torture of the Musquetoes. there are a great number of geese
which usually raise their young above these falls about the
entrance of Medicine river we saw them in large flocks of several
hundred as we passed today. I saw both yesterday and
today the Cookkoo or as it is sometimes called the
rain craw.
this bird is not met with west of the Rocky Mountains nor
within them.
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