Tuesday June 17th. 1806
We collected our horses and set out early; we proceeded
down hungary Creek about 7 miles passing it twice; we found
it difficuelt and dangerous to pass the creek in consequence of
it's debth and rapidity; we avoided two other passes of the
creek, by assending a steep rockey and difficuelt hill. beyond
this creek the road assends the mountain to the hight of the
main leading ridges, which divides the waters of the Kooskooske
and Chopunnish Riv's. This mountain we ascended about 3
miles when we found ourselves invelloped in snow from 8 to
12 feet deep even on the South Side of the mountain. I was
in front and could only prosue the derection of the road by the
trees which had been peeled by the nativs for the iner bark
of which they scraped and eate, as those pealed trees were
only to be found scattered promisquisley, I with great difficulty
prosued the direction of the road one mile further to the top
of the mountain where I found the snow from 12 to 15 feet
deep, but new trees with the fairest exposure to the Sun; here
was Winter with all it's rigors; the air was cold my hands and
feet were benumed. we knew that it would require four days
to reach the fish weare at the enterance of Colt Creek, provided
we were so fortunate as to be enabled to follow the
p[r]oper ridge of the mountains to lead us to that place; of
this all of our most expert woodsmen and principal guides
were extreemly doubtfull; Short of that point we could not
hope for any food for our horses not even under wood itself as
the whole was covered many feet deep in snow. if we proceeded
and Should git bewildered in those Mountains the
certainty was that we Should lose all of our horses and consequently
our baggage enstrements perhaps our papers and
thus eventially resque the loss of our discoveries which we
had already made if we should be so fortunate as to escape
with life. the snow bore our horses very well and the traveling
was therefore infinately better than the obstruction of
rocks and fallen timber which we met with in our passage over
last fall when the snow lay on this part of the ridge in detached
spop[t]s only. under these circumstances we conceived it madness
in this stage of the expedition to proceed without a guide
who could certainly conduct us to the fishwears on the Kooskooske,
as our horses could not possibly sustain a journey of
more than 4 or 5 days without food. we therefore come to
the resolution to return with our horses while they were yet
strong and in good order, and indeaver to keep them so untill
we could precure an indian to conduct us over the Snowey
Mountains, and again to proceed as soon as we could precure
such a guide, knowing from the appearance of the snows that
if we remained untill it had disolved sufficiently for us to follow
the road that we should not be enabled to return to the
United States within this season. having come to this resolution,
we ordered the party to make a deposit of all the baggage
which we had not imediate use for, and also all the roots
and bread of Cows which they had except an allowance for a
fiew days to enable them to return to some place at which we
could subsist by hunting untill we precured a guide. we left
our instrements, and I even left the most of my papers
believing them safer here than to Wrisk them on horse
back over the road, rocks and water which we had passed.
our baggage being laid on Scaffolds and well covered, we
began our retragrade march at 1 P. M. haveing remain
d.
about three hours on this Snowey mountain. we returned
by the rout we had advanced to hungary Creek, which
we assended about 2 miles and encamped. we had here
more grass for our horses than the proceeding evening, yet
it was but scant. the party were a good deel dejected,
tho' not as much so as I had apprehended they would have
been. this is the first time since we have been on this tour
that we have ever been compelled to retreat or make a retragrade
march. it rained on us the most of this evening. on
the top of the Mountain the Weather was very fluctiating
and uncertain snowed cloudy & fair in a few minets.
