Monday June 17th. 1805.
Capt. Clark set out early this morning with five me[n] to
examine the country and survey the river and portage as had
been concerted last evening. I set six men at work to p[r]epare
four sets of truck wheels with couplings, toungs and
bodies, that they might either be used without the bodies for
transporting our canoes, or with them in transporting our baggage
I found that the Elk skins I had prepared for my boat
were insufficient to compleat her, some of them having become
dammaged by the weather and being frequently wet; to make
up this deficiency I sent out two hunters this morning to hunt
Elk; the ballance of the party I employed first in unloading
the white perogue, which we intend leaving at this place, and
bring the whole of our baggage together and arranging it in
proper order near our camp. this duty being compleated I
employed them in taking five of the small canoes up the creek
which we now call portage creek
[17]
about 1 3/4 miles; here I had
them taken out and lyed in the sun to dry. from this place
ther is a gradual ascent to the top of the high plain to which
we can now take them with ease; the bluffs of this creek below
and those of the river above it's entrance are so steep that it
would be almost impracticable to have gotten them on the
plain. we found much difficulty in geting the canoes up this
creek to the distance we were compelled to take them, in consequence
of the rappids and rocks which obstruct the channel
of the creek. one of the canoes overset and was very near
injuring 2 men essentially. just above the canoes the creek
has a perpendicular fall of 5 feet and the cliffts again become
very steep and high. we were fortunate enough to find one
cottonwood tree just below the entrance of portage creek that
was large enough to make our carrage wheels about 22 Inchis
in diameter; fortunate I say because I do not beleive that we
could find another of the same size perfectly sound within 20
miles of us. the cottonwood which we are obliged to employ
in the other parts of the work is extreemly illy calculated for it
being soft and brittle. we have made two axeltrees of the
mast of the white perogue, which I hope will answer tolerably
well tho' it is reather small. The Indian woman much better
today; I have still continued the same course of medecine;
she is free from pain clear of fever, her pulse regular, and eats
as heartily as I am willing to permit her of broiled buffaloe
well seasoned with pepper and salt and rich soope of the same
meat; I think therefore that there is every rational hope of her
recovery. saw a vast number of buffaloe feeding in every
direction arround us in the plains, others coming down in large
herds to water at the river; the fragments of many carcases of
these poor anamals daily pass down the river, thus mangled I
p[r]esume in decending those immence cataracts above us. as
the buffaloe generally go in large herds to water and the passages
to the river about the falls are narrow and steep the
hi[n]der part of the herd press those in front out of their
debth and the water insta[n]tly takes them over the cataracts
where they are instantly crushed to death without the possibility
of escaping. in this manner I have seen ten or a douzen
disappear in a few minutes. their mangled carcases ly along
the shores below the falls in considerable quantities and afford
fine amusement for the bear wolves and birds of prey; this
may be one reason and I think not a bad one either that the
bear are so tenatious of their right of soil in this neighbourhood.
