1st. of
October Monday 1804—
The wind blew hard all last night
from the S. E. verry cold
Set out early the wind Still hard, passed a
large Island in the
middle of the river (1) opsd. the
lower point of this Island the
Recrerees formerly lived in a large Town on
the L. S. (remains
only a mound circular walls 3 or 4
feet high) above the head of
the Island about 2 miles we passed the
(2) River Chien (or
Dog River) (Chayenne) L. S.
this river Comes in from the
S. W. and is about 400 yards wide, the
Current appears gentle
throwing out but little Sands, and appears to throw
out but
little water the heads of this River is not known (in the second
range of the Côte Noir its course
generally about East. So
called from the Chayenne Indians who live on the
heads of it)
a part of the nation of Dog Indians live some distance
up this
river, the precise distance I cant learn, above the mouth of
this river the Sand bars are thick and the water Shoal the
river
Still verry wide and falling a little we are obliged to
haul the boat over
a Sand bar, after makeing Several attempts
to pass. the wind So hard we
Came too & Stayed 3 hours
after it Slackened a little we proceeded on
round a bend, the
wind in the after part of the Day a head. (2) passed a
Creek
on the L. S. which we Call the Sentinal, this part of the river
has but little timber, the hills not so high, the Sand bars more
noumerous, & river more than one mile Wide including the
Sand
bars. (2) pass a Small Creek above the latter which we
Call lookout C. Continued on with the wind imediately a head,
and Came too on a large Sand bar in the middle of the river,
we Saw
a man opposit to our Camp on the L. S. which we
discovd. to be a Frenchman, a little of [f] (from
Shore among)
the Willows we observed a house, we Call to them to come
over, a boy came in a canoe & informed that 2 frenchmen
were at
the house with good[s] to trade with the Seauex which
he expected down
from the rickerrees everry day, Sever'l
large parties of Seauex Set out
from the rees for this place to
trade with those
men.
This Mr.
Jon Vallie[14]
informs us that he wintered last winter
300
Leagues up the Chien River under the Black mountains,
he informs that this
river is verry rapid and dificuelt even for
Perogues [Canoos] to assend and when riseing the Swels is
verry
high, one hundred Leagues up it forks one fork
Comes from the S. the other
at 40 Leagues above the forks
enters the black Mountain. The Countrey from
the Missourie
to the black mountains is much like the Countrey on the
Missourie, less timber. & a great perpotion of Ceder.
The black
mountains he Says is verry high, and Some parts
of it has Snow on it in
the Summer great quantities of Pine
Grow on the Mountains, a great Noise
is heard frequently
on those Mountains". No beever on Dog river, on the
Mountains great numbers of goat, and a kind of anamale
with large
circular horns, this animale is nearly the Size of an
[Small] Elk. [Argalea] White bears is
also plenty The
Chien (Chayenne) Inds. are about 300 Lodges[15]
they inhabit this
river principally, and Steel horses from the Spanish Settlements,
to the S W. this excurtion they
make in one month
the bottoms & Sides of R Chien is corse gravel. This
frenchman
gives an account of a white booted
turkey an inhabitent
of the Cout Noir (Prairie
Cock)
