[Lewis:]
Wednesday June 12th. 1805.
This morning I felt myself quite revived, took another portion
of my decoction and set out at sunrise. I now boar out
from the river in order to avoid the steep ravines of the river
which usually make out in the plain to the distance of one or
two miles; after gaining the leavel plain my cou[r]se was a
litt[l]e to the West of S. W. having traveled about 12 miles
by 9 in the morning, the sun became warm, and I boar a little
to the south in order to gain the river as well to obtain water
to allay my thirst as to kill something for breakfast; for the
plain through which we had been passing possesses no water
and is so level that we cannot approach the buffaloe within
shot before they discover us and take to flight. We arrived at
the river about 10 A. M. having traveled about 15. M. at
this place there is a handsom open bottom with some cottonwood
timber, here we met with two large bear, and killed them
boath at the first fire, a circumstance which I beleive has never
happend. with the party in killing the brown bear before. we
dressed the bear, breakfasted on a part of one of them and
hung the meat and skins on the trees out of the reach of the
wolves. I left a note on a stick near the river for Capt. Clark,
informing him of my progress &c. after refreshing ourselves
about 2 hours we again ascended the bluffs and gained the
high plain; saw a great number of burrowing squirrels in the
plains today. also wolves Antelopes mule deer and immence
herds of buffaloe. we passed a ridge of land considerably
higher than the adjacent plain on either side, from this hight
we had a most beatifull and picturesk view of the Roeky
mountains which wer perfectly covered with Snow and reaching
from S.E. to the N. of N.W. they appear to be formed
of several ranges each succeeding range rising higher than the
preceding one untill the most distant appear to loose their
snowey tops in the clouds; this was an august spectacle and
still rendered more formidable by the recollection that we had
them to pass. we traveled about twelve miles when we agin
struck the Missoury at a handsome little bottom of Cottonwood
timber and altho' the sun had not yet set I felt myself
somewhat w[e]ary being weakened I presume by late disorder;
and therefore determined to remain here during the
ballance of the day and night, having marched about 27 Miles
today. on our way in the evening we had killed a buffaloe,
an Antelope and three mule deer, and taken a sufficient quantity
of the best of the flesh of these anamals for three meals,
which we had brought with us. This evening I ate very
heartily and after pening the transactions of the day amused
myself catching those white fish mentioned yesterday; they
are here in great abundance I caught upwards of a douzen
in a few minutes; they bit most freely at the melt [milt] of a
deer which goodrich had brought with him for the purpose
of fishing.
The narrow leafed cottonwood grows here in common with
the other species of the same tree with a broad leaf or that
which has constituted the major part of the timber of the Missouri
from it's junction with the Mississippi to this place.
The narrow-leafed cottonwood differs only from the other in
the shape of it's leaf and greater thickness of it's bark. the
leaf is a long oval acutely pointed, about 2 1/2 or 3 Inches long
and from 3/4 to an inch in width; it is thick, sometimes
slightly grooved or channeled; margin slightly serrate; the
upper disk of a common green while the under disk is of a
whitish green; the leaf is smoth. the beaver appear to be
extremely fond of this tree and even seem to scelect it from
among the other species of Cottonwood, probably from it's
affording a deeper and softer bark than the other species. saw
some sign of the Otter as well as beaver near our camp, also a
great number of tracks of the brown bear; these fellows leave
a formidable impression in the mud or sand I measured one
this evening which was eleven inches long exclusive of the
tallons and seven and 1/4 in width.
