Wednesday 4th.. Sept. 1805.
the morning clear but verry cold our mockersons froze
hard. the mountains covred with Snow. 2 mountain Sheep
Seen by one of the men. we delayed untill about 8 oClock
A. M. then Set out and assended a mountain without any thing
to eat. the Snow lay on the mou
t. So that it kep on our
mockisons the air verry cold our fingers aked with the cold.
we [de]scended the mountain down a rough rockey way and
along through a large thicket of bolsom fer timber in which
we killed a dozen fessents then descended down in to a large
valley on a branch and halted to dine our hunter killed a
Deer. Saw fresh Indian Sign. we Eat our deer. our Indian
guide and the young Indian who accompanied him Eat the
paunch and all the Small guts of the Deer. we then proceeded
on down the valley towards evening we arived at a large
Encampment of the flat head nation which is a large band of
the nation of about 40 lodges. they have between 4 and 500
well looking horses now feeding in this valley or plain in our
view. they received us as friends and appeared to be glad to
See us. 2 of our men who were a hunting came to their
lodges first the natives Spread a white robe over them and
put their arms around their necks, as a great token of friendship.
then Smoaked with them. when Cap
t. Lewis and Cap
t.
Clark ari[ved] they Spread white robes over their Shoulders
and Smoaked with them. our officers told them that they
would Speak with them tomorrow and tell them our business
and where we are going &c. the natives are light Complectioned
decent looking people the most of them well
cloathed with M
o. Sheep and other Skins. they have buffalow
Robes leather lodges to live in, but have no meat at this time.
but gave us abundance of their dryed fruit Such as Servis
berrys cherries different kinds of roots all of which eat verry
well. they tell us that we can go in 6 days to where white
traders come and that they had Seen bearded men who came
[from] a river to the North of us 6 days march but we have
4 mountains to cross before we come on that River. our
hunters killed another Deer this evening. Came [blank space
in MS.] miles to day and pitched our Camp on the plain near
the Creek on the right of the Indians lodges. considerable of
large pitch pine in the valley.
