[Clark:]
Wednesday 14th. of May 1806
a fine day. we had all our horses collected by 10 a.m.
dureing the time we had all our baggage crossed over the
Flathead River which is rapid and about 150 yards wide. after
the baggage was over to the North Side we crossed our hors[e]s
without much trouble and hobbled them in the bottom after
which we moved a short distance below to a convenient situation
and formed a camp around a very conveniant spot for
defence where the Indians had formerly a house under-ground
and hollow circiler spot of about 30 feet diameter 4 feet below
the serf[a]ce and a Bank of 2 feet above this situation we
concluded would be sufficently convenient to hunt the wood
lands for bear & Deer and for the salmon fish which we were
told would be here in a fiew days, and also a good situation
for our horses. the hills to the E. & N. of us are high broken
& but partially timbered; the soil rich and affords fine grass.
in short as we are compelled to reside a while in this neighbourhood
I feel perfectly satisfied with our position. imediately
after we had crossed the river the Chief called the broken arm
or
Tin-nach-e-moo-tolt another principal Chief
Hoh-hâst-'ill-pilp
arived on the opposite side and began to sing. we sent the
canoe over and those chiefs, the son of the broken arm and
the son of a Great Chief who was killed last year by the Big
bellies of Saskasshewin river. those two young men were the
two whome gave Cap
t Lewis and my self each a horse with
great serimony in behalf of the nation a fiew days ago, and the
latter a most elligant mare & colt the morning after we arived
at the village. Hohâstillpilp with much serimoney presented
Cap
t Lewis with an elegant Gray horse which he had brought
for that purpose. Cap
t Lewis gave him in return a Handkerchief
two hundred balls and four pounds of powder, with which
he appeared perfectly satisfied, and appeared much pleased.
Soon after I had crossed the river and during the time Cap
Lewis was on the opposit side John Collins whome we had
sent out verry early this morning with Labiech and Shannon
on the North Side of the river to hunt, came in and informed
me, that he had killed two Bear at about 5 miles distant on the
uplands, one of which was in good order. I imediately de[s]patched
Jo. Fields. & P. Wiser with him for the flesh. we
made several attempts to exchange our Stalions for Geldin[g]s
or mar[e]s without success we even offered two for one. those
horses are troublesom and cut each other very much and as we
can't exchange them we think it best to
castrate them and
began the opperation this evening one of the indians present
offered his services on this occasion. he cut them without
tying the string of the stone as is usial. he [s]craped it very
clean & seperate it before he cut it. about Meridian Shannon
came in with two Grows [grouse] & 2 Squireles common to
this country. his mockersons worn out obliged to come in
early. Collins returned in the evening with the two bears
which he had killed in the morning one of them an old hee
was in fine order, the other a female with Cubs was meagure.
we gave the Indians about us 15 in number two shoulders and
a ham of the bear to eate which they cooked in the following
manner. towit on a brisk fire of dryed wood they threw a parcel
of small stones from the river, when the fire had burnt down
and heated the stone, they placed them level and laid on a
parsel of pine boughs, on those they laid the flesh of the bear
in flitches, placeing boughs between each course of meat and
then covering it thickly with pine boughs; after this they
poared on a small quantity of water, and covered the whole
over with earth to the debth of 4 inches. in this situation they
suffered it to remain about 3 hours when they took it out fit
for use. at 6 oClock Labiech returned and informed us that
he had killed a female Bear and two Cubs, at a long distance
from camp towards the Mountains. he brought in two large
dark brown pheasents which he had also killed Shannon also
returned also with a few black Pheasents and two squirels which
he had killed in the wood land towards Collins Creek. This
nation esteem the Killing of one of those tremendeous animals
(the Bear) equally great with that of an enemy in the field of
action. we gave the claws of those bear which Collins had
killed to Hohâstillpilp.
