University of Virginia Library

[Clark:]

Sunday 11th May 1806

Some little rain last night. we were crouded in the Lodge
with Indians who continued all night and this morning Great
numbers were around us. The One Eyed Chief Yoom-park-kar-tim
arived and we gave him a medal of the small size and
spoke to the Indians through a Snake boy Shabono and his
wife. we informed them who we were, where we came from
& our intentions towards them, which pleased them very much.
a young man son to the great Chief who was killed not long
sence by the Indians from the N.E. brought an elegant mare
and coalt and Gave us, and said he had opened his ears to

what we had said and his heart was glad: and requested us
to take this mare and coalt as a token of his deturmination
to pursue our Councels &c. The twisted hair brough[t] six of
our horses all in fine order. Great numbers of Indians apply
to us for medical aid which we gave them cherfully so far as
our skill and store of Medicine would enable us. schrofla,
ulsers, rhumitism, sore eyes, and the loss of the use of their
Limbs are the most common cases among them. the latter
case is not very common but We have seen 3 instances of it
among the Chopunnish. a very extroadinery compl[ai]nt.
about 3 P. M. Geo. drewyer arived with 2 deer which he had
killed. he informed us that the snow still continued to cover
the plains. We are now pretty well informed that Tunnachemootoolt,
Hohâstillpilp, Neshneparkkeeook, and Yoomparkkartim
were the principal Chiefs of the Chopunnish Nation
and ranked in the order here mentioned; as all those chiefs
were present in our lodge we thought it a favourable time to
repeet what had been said and to enter more minutely into the
views of our government with respect to the inhabitants of
this Western part of the Continent, their intentions of establishing
tradeing houses for their relief, their wish to restore
peace and harmony among the nativs, the strength welth and
powers of our nation &c. to this end we drew a map of the
country with a coal on a mat in their way, and by the assistance
of the Snake boy and our interpreters were enabled to
make ourselves understood by them altho' it had to pass
through French, Minnetare, Shoshone and Chopunnish languages.[12]
the interpretation being tegious it occupied the
greater part of the day, before we had communicated to them
what we wished. they appeared highly pleased. after this
council was over we amused ourselves with shewing them the
power of magnetism, the spye glass, compass, watch, air gun
and sundery other articles equally novel and incomprehensible
to them. they informed us that after we left the Menetares
last spring that 3 of their people has visited that nation, and
that they had informed them of us, and had told them that
we had such things in our possession but that they could not
place confidence in the information untill they had now witnessed
it themselves.

In the evening a man was brought in a robe by four Indians
and laid down near me. they informed me that this man was
a Chief of considerable note who has been in the situation I
see him for 5 years. this man is incapable of moveing a single
limb but lies like a corps in whatever position he is placed,
yet he eats hartily, dejests his food perfectly, enjoys his understanding.
his pulse are good, and has retained his flesh almost
perfectly; in short were it not that he appears a little pale from
having been so long in the shade, he might well be taken for a
man in good health. I suspect that their confinement to a diet
of roots may give rise to all the disorde[r]s of the nativs of this
quarter except the Rhumitism & Sore eyes, and to the latter of
those, the state of debility incident to a vegitable diet may measureably
contribute. The Chopunnish not withstanding they
live in the crouded manner before mentioned are much more
clenly in their persons and habitations than any nation we have
seen sence we left the Illinois. These nativs take their fish in
the following manner towit. a stand small stage or warf consisting
of sticks and projecting about 10 feet into the river and
about 3 feet above the water on the extremity of this the fisherman
stands with his guig or a skooping net which differ but
little in their form [from] those commonly [ILLUSTRATION] used
in our country it is formed thus with those
nets they take the Suckers and also the salmon
trout and I am told the salmon also.