Thursday July 17th. 1806.
I arrose early this morning and made a drawing of the falls.
after which we took breakfast and departed. it being my
design to strike Maria's river about the place at which I left it
on my return to it's mouth in the begining of June 1805. I
steered my course through the wide and level plains which
have somewhat the appearance of an ocean, not a tree nor a
shrub to be seen. the land is not fertile, at least far less so,
than the plains of the Columbia or those lower down this
river, it is a light colored soil intermixed with a considerable
proportion of coarse gravel without sand, when dry it cracks
and appears thursty and is very hard, in it's wet state, it is as
soft and slipry as so much soft soap. the grass is naturally but
short and at present has been rendered much more so by the
graizing of the buffaloe, the whole face of the country as far
as the eye can reach looks like a well shaved bowling green,
in which immence and numerous herds of buffaloe were seen
feeding attended by their scarcely less numerous sheepherds
the wolves. we saw a number of goats as usual today, also
the party coloured plover with the brick red head and neck;
this bird remains about the little ponds which are distributed
over the face of these plains and here raise their young. we
killed a buffaloe cow as we passed throug[h] the plains and took
the hump and tonge which furnish ample rations for four men
one day. at 5 P. M. we arrived at
rose [
Tansy]
[21]
river where
I purposed remaining all night as I could not reach maria's
river this evening and unless I did there would be but little
probability of our finding any wood and very probably no water
either. on our arrival at the river we saw where a wounded
and bleading buffaloe had just passed and concluded it was
probable that the indians had been runing them and were near
at hand. the Minnetares of Fort de prarie and the blackfoot
indians rove through this quarter of the country and as they
are a vicious lawless and reather an abandoned set of wretches
I wish to avoid an interview with them if possible. I have no
doubt but they would steel our horses if they have it in
their power and finding us weak should they happen to be
numerous wil most probably attempt to rob us of our arms
and baggage; at all events I am determined to take every
possible precaution to avoid them if possible. I hurried over
the river to a thick wood and turned out the horses to graize;
sent Drewyer to pursue and kill the wounded buffaloe in order
to determine whether it had been wounded by the indians or
not, and proceeded myself to reconnoitre the adjacent country
having sent R. Fields for the same purpose a different rout.
I ascended the river hills and by the help of my glass examined
the plains but could make no discovery, in about an hour I
returned to camp, where I met with the others who had been
as unsuccessfull as myself. Drewyer could not find the
wounded buffaloe. J. Fields whom I had left at camp had
already roasted some of the buffaloe meat and we took dinner
after which I sent Drewyer and R. Fields to resume their resurches
for the Indians; and set myself down to record the
transactions of the day.
rose (Tansy) river is at this place
fifty yards wide, the water which is only about 3 feet deep
occupys about 35 y
ds. and is very terbid of a white colour. the
general course of this river is from East to West so far as I
can discover it's track through the plains, it's bottoms are
wide and well timbered with cottonwood [of] both the broad
and narrow leafed speceis. the bed of this stream is small
gravel and mud; it's banks are low but never overflow, the
hills are about 100 or 150 feet high; it possesses bluffs of
earth like the lower part of the Missouri; except the debth
and valocity of it's stream and it is the Missouri in miniture.
from the size of rose river at this place and it's direction I have
no doubt but it takes it's source within the first range of the
Rocky mountains. the bush which bears the red berry is here
in great plenty in the river bottoms
Courses and distances July 17th. 1806.
| N. 10°. W. |
20. M. |
from the great falls of the Missouri to rose river
where we encamped on it's northern bank in
a grove of cottonwood. |
| Ms. |
20 |
|
The spies returned having killed 2 beaver and a deer. they
reported that they saw no appearance of Indians.
