Monday May 19th. 1806.
It continued to rain this morning untill 8.OCk. when it became
fair. We sent Charbono, Thompson, Potts, Hall and
Wiser over the river to a village above in order to purchase
some roots to eat with our lean bear meat. for this purpose
we gave them a few awls, Kniting pins and Armbands. we
were informed that there was a canoe at the village in which
they could pass the river. I sent Joseph and R. Feilds up
the river in surch of the horse which I rode over the Rocky
mountains last fall. he had been seen yesterday with a parsel
of indian horses and has become almost wild. at 11 A.M.
Thompson returned from the village accompanyed by a train
of invalids consisting of 4 men 8 women and a child. The
men had soar eyes and the women in addition to soar eyes had
a variety of other complaints principally rheumatic; a weakness
and pain in the loins is a common complaint with their women.
eyewater was administered to all; to two of the women cathartics
were given, to a third who appeared much dejected and
who from their account of her disease we supposed it to be
histerical, we gave 30 drops of Laudanum. the several parts
of the others where the rheumatic pains were seated were
well rubed with volitile linniment. all of those poor wretches
thought themselves much benefited, and all returned to their
village well satisfyed. at 5 P.M. o[u]r marketers returned with
about 6 bushels of the cows roots and a considerable quan[ti]ty
of bread of the same materials. late in the evening Reubin and
Joseph Feilds returned with my horse; we had him immediately
castrated together with two others by Drewyer in the
ordinary [way]. we amused ourselves about an hour this
afternoon in looking at the men running their horses. several
of those horses would be thought fleet in the U States.
a little after dark Sheilds and Gibson returned unsuccessfull
from the chase. they had seen some deer but no bear.
