Thursday August 8th. 1805.
We had a heavy dew this morning. as one canoe had been
left we had now more ha[n]ds to spear for the chase; game
being scarce it requires more hunters to supply us. we therefore
dispatched four this morning. we set out at sunrise and
continued our rout up the river which we find much more
gentle and deep than below the entrance of Wisdom river it
is from 35 to 45 yards wide very crooked many short bends
constituteing large and general bends; insomuch that altho'
we travel briskly and a considerable distance yet it takes us
only a few miles on our general course or rout. there is but
very little timber on this fork principally the under brush frequently
mentioned. I observe a considerable quantity of the
buffaloe clover in the bottoms. the sunflower, flax, green
swoard, thistle and several species of the rye grass some of
which rise to the hight of 3 or 4 feet. there is a grass also
with a soft smooth leaf that bears it's seeds very much like the
timothy but it dose not grow very luxouriant or appear as if
it would answer so well as the common timothy for meadows.
I preserved some of it's seeds which are now ripe, thinking
perhaps it might answer better if cultivated, at all events is at
least worth the experiment. it rises about 3 feet high. on a
direct line about 2 miles above our encampment of this morning
we passed the entrance of Philanthrophy River which discharges
itself by 2 channels a small distance assunder. this river
from it's size and S. Eastwardly course no doubt heads with
Madisons river in the snowey mountains visible in that direction.
at Noon Reubin Fields arrived and reported that he
had been up Widsom river some miles above where it entered
the mountain and could find nothing of Shannon, he had killed
a deer and an Antelope. great quantity of beaver Otter and
musk-rats in these rivers. two of the hunters we sent out
this morning returned at noon had killed each a deer and an
Antelope. we use the seting poles today almost altogether.
we encamped on the Lard side where there was but little timber
were obliged to use willow brush for fuel; the rosebushes and
bryers were very thick. the hunters brought in another deer
this evening. t[h]e tumor on Capt. Clarks ankle has discharged
a considerable quantity of matter but is still much
swolen and inflamed and gives him considerable pain. saw a
number of Gees ducks and some Crains today. the former
begin to fly. the evening again proved cloudy much to my
mortification and prevented my making any lunar observations.
the Indian woman recognized the point of a high plain to our
right which she informed us was not very distant from the
summer retreat of her nation on a river beyond the mountains
which runs to the west. this hill she says her nation calls the
beaver's head from a conceived re[se]mblance of it's figure to
the head of that animal.
[12]
she assures us that we shall either
find her people on this river or on the river immediately west
of it's source; which from it's present size cannot be very distant.
as it is now all important with us to meet with those
people as soon as possible I determined to proceed tomorrow
with a small party to the source of the principal stream of this
river and pass the mountains to the Columbia; and down that
river until I found the Indians; in short it is my resolusion
to find them or some others, who have horses if it should cause
me a trip of one month. for without horses we shall be obliged
to leave a great part of our stores, of which, it appears to me
that we have a stock already sufficiently small for the length
of the voyage before us.
Courses and Distance of August 8th. 1805.
| South |
2 |
Miles to the upper or principal entrance of Philanthrophy
River on Lard. being 5 Miles by water, passing seven
bends on the Lard. side, two islands and several bayous.
this river is 30 yds. wide is navigable and heads in the
Rocky Mountains with Madison's River. |
| S. 20. W. |
6. |
to a few high trees on the Stard. side, the river bending to
the East two miles from this course. and the distance
by water 14 miles passing an island at 1 M.
another at 7 M. several small bayous and 35 bends on
Strd. side the majority of the bends being short and
circular. |
| Miles |
8. |
|
