[Lewis:]
Wednesday
April 10th
1805.
Set out at an early hour this morning, at the distance of
three miles passed some Minetares who had assembled themselves
on the Lard [larboard] shore to take a
view of our little
fleet. Capt Clark walked on shore to-day, for several
hours,
when he returned he informed me that he had seen a gang of
Antelopes in the plains but was unable to get a shoot at them,
he
also saw some geese and swan. the geese are now feeding
in considerable
numbers on the young grass which has sprung
up in the bottom praries. the
Musquetoes were very troublesome
to us
to-day. The country on both sides of the missouri
from the tops of the river hills, is one continued level
fertile
plain as far as the eye can reach, in which there is not
even a solitary
tree or shrub to be seen, except such as from
their moist situations or
the steep declivities of hills are sheltered
from the ravages of the fire. at the distance of 12 miles
from our
encampment of last night we arrived at the lower
point of a bluff on the
Lard side; about 1 1/2 miles down this
bluff from this point, the bluff is
now on fire and throws out
considerable quantities of smoke which has a
strong sulphurious
smell. the appearance of the coal in the blufs continues
as yesterday.
[19]
at 1. P.M. we
overtook three french
hunters who had set out a few days before us with a
view
of traping beaver; they had taken 12 since they left Fort
Mandan. these people avail themselves of the protection
which our
numbers will enable us to give them against the
Assinniboins who sometimes
hunt on the Missouri; and
intend ascending with us as far as the mouth of
the Yellow
stone river and continue there hunt up that river. this is the
first essay of a beaver hunter of any discription on this river.
the
beaver these people have already taken is by far the best I
have ever
seen. the river bottoms we have passed to-day are
wider and possess more
timber than usual. the courant of the
Missouri is but moderate, at least
not greater than that of
the Ohio in high tide; it's banks are falling in
but little; the
navigation is therefore comparitively with it's lower
portion
easy and safe. we encamped this evening on a willow point,
Star
d. side just above a remarkable bend in the river
to the
S.W. which we called the little bason.
[20]
Cou[r]ses and distances of this
day.
|
|
miles. |
| S. 45.
W. |
to a point of timbered land on the Std Sid. |
3 |
| W. |
to a
point of timbered land on the Lard. sd. |
3 |
| S. 72.
W. |
to a tree in a bend on the Stard.
side |
2 |
| S. 32. W. |
to a point
of woods on the Stard.
side |
4 |
| W. |
on the Stard. point |
1/2 |
| N. 40.
W. |
on the Stard.
point |
1/2 |
| N. 50. E. |
to a
point on the Lard. side, opposite to a low
bluff |
2 |
| S. 52. W. |
to a point
on the Stard. side opposite to a bluf, above
which a
small creek falls in. |
3
1/2 |
|
|
18
1/2 |
