University of Virginia Library

[Lewis:]

Saturday (Friday) January 10th 1806.

About 10.A.M. I was visited by Tia Shâh-hâr-wâr-cap and
eleven of his nation in one large canoe; these are the Cuth'-lâh-mâh'
nation who reside first above us on the South side of
the Columbia river; this is the first time that I have seen the
Chief, he was hunting when we past his vilage on our way to
this place. I gave him a medal of the smallest size; he presented
me with some indian tobacco and a basquit of woppetoe,
in return for which I gave him some thread for making a
skiming-net and a small piece of tobacco. these people speak
the same language with the Chinnooks and C[l]atsops whom
they also resemble in their dress customs manners &c. they
brought some dryed salmon, wappetoe, dogs, and mats made
of rushes and flags, to barter; their dogs and a part of their
wappetoe they disposed off, an[d] remained all night near the
fort. This morning Drewyer and Collins returned having
killed two Elk only, and one of those had died in their view
over a small lake which they had not the means of passing it
being late in the evening and has of course spoiled, as it laid
with the entrals in it all night; as the tide was going out we
could not send for the elk today, therefore ordered a party to
go for it early in the morning and George and Collins to con
tinue their hunt; meat has now become scarce with us.—

Capt Clark returned at 10 P.M. this evening with the majority
of the party who accompanyed him; having left some men
to assist the saltmakers to bring in the meat of two Elk which
they had killed, and sent 2 others through by land to hunt.
Capt. Clark found the whale on the Coast about 45 Miles S.E.
of Point Adams [Round], and about 35 Miles from Fort Clatsop
by the rout he took; The whale was already pillaged of
every valuable part by the Killamucks, in the vicinity of one

of whose villages it lay on the strand where the waves and tide
had driven [it] up and left it. this skelleton measured one
hundred and five feet. Capt C. found the natives busily engaged
in boiling the blubber, which they performed in a large
wooden trought by means of hot stones; the oil when extracted
was secured in bladders and the guts of the whale; the
blubber, from which the oil was only partially extracted by this
process, was laid by in their lodges in large fliches for uce;
this they usually expose to the fire on a wooden spit untill it
is pretty well warmed through and then eat it either alone or
with the roots of the rush, squawmash, fern[13] wappetoe &c.
The natives although they possessed large quantities of this
blubber and oil were so penurious that they disposed of it with
great reluctance and in small quantities only; insomuch that
the utmost exertions of Capt. C. and the whole party aided by
the little stock of merchandize he had taken with him and some
small articles which the men had, were not able to procure
more blubber than about 300 lb. and a few gallons of the oil;
this they have brought with them, and small as the store is,
we prize it highly, and thank providence for directing the whale
to us, and think him much more kind to us than he was [to]
jonah, having sent this monster to be swallowed by us in stead
of swallowing of us as jona's did. Capt. C. found the road along
the coast extreemly difficult of axcess, lying over some high
rough and stoney hills, one of which he discribes as being
much higher than the others; having it's base washed by the
Ocea[n] over which it rares it's towering summit perpendicularly
to the hight of 1500 feet; from this summit Capt. C.
informed me that there was a delightfall and most extensive
view of the ocean, the coast and adjacent country; this Mou.t
I have taken the liberty of naming Clark's Mountain and point
of view; it is situated about 30 M. S.E. of Point Adams.
(Disapointment) and projects about 2 ½ miles into the Ocean;
Killamucks [Qu. Clatsop] river falls in a little to the N.W.
of this mountain; in the face of this tremendious precepice
there is a stra[tum] of white earth (see specimen N°. [blank
space in Ms.]) which the neighbouring Indians use to paint
themselves, and which appears to me to resemble the earth of
which the French Porcelain is made; I am confident this earth
contains Argill, but w[h]ether it also contains Silex or magnesia,
or either of those earths in a proper proportion I am
unable to determine. Shannon and Gass were found with the
Salt makers and ordered to return M,c Neal was near being
assassinated by a Killamuck Indian, but fortunately escaped in
consequence of a Chinnook woman giving information to Capt.
C., the party and Indians with them before the villain had prepared
himself to execute his purposes. The party returned
excessively fortiegued and tired of their jaunt. Killamucks
[Clatsop] river is 85 yards wide, rappid and 3 feet deep in the
shallowest part. The Killamucks in their habits customs
manners dress and language differ but little from the Clatsoops
& Chinnooks. they place their dead in canoes and [resting on
the ground] uncovered, having previously secured the dead
bodies in an oblong box of plank.

The coast in the neighbourhood of Clarks Mountain is sliping
off & falling into the Ocean in immence masses; fifty or a
hundred acres at a time give way and a great proportion in an
instant [is] precipitated into the Ocean. these hills and mountains
are principally composed of a yellow clay; there sliping
off or spiking assunder at this time is no doubt caused by the
incessant rains which have fallen within the last two months.
the country in general as about Fort Clatsop is covered with
a very heavy growth of several species of pine & furr, also the
arbor vita or white cedar and a small proportion of the black
Alder which last sometimes grows to the hight of sixty or
seventy feet, and from two to four feet in diameter. some
species of the pine rise to the immence hight of 210 feet and
are from 7 to 12 feet in diameter, and are perfectly sound and
solid.