University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER VIII.

Sunday 28. The day was clear and pleasant, and the
wind having shifted to southeast, we could employ our sails,
and went twenty-four miles to a low ground on the north opposite
to steep bluffs: the country on both sides is much broken,
the hills approaching nearer to the river, and forming
bluffs, some of a white and others of a red colour, and
exhibiting the usual appearances of minerals, and some
burnt hills though without any pumicestone; the salts are
in greater quantities than usual, and the banks and sandbars
are covered with a white incrustation like frost.
The low grounds are level, fertile and partially timbered,
but are not so wide as for a few days past. The woods
are now green, but the plains and meadows seem to have
less verdure than those below: the only streams which
we met to-day are two small runs on the north and one on
the south, which rise in the neighbouring hills, and have
very little water. At the distance of eighteen miles the
Missouri makes a considerable bend to the southeast: the
game is very abundant, the common, and mule or blacktailed
deer, elk, buffaloe, antelope, brown bear, beaver, and
geese. The beaver have committed great devastation
among the trees, one of which, nearly three feet in diameter,
had been gnawed through by them.

Monday 29. We proceeded early with a moderate wind:
captain Lewis who was on shore with one hunter met about
eight o'clock two white bears: of the strength and ferocity
of this animal, the Indians had given us dreadful accounts:
they never attack him but in parties of six or eight persons,
and even then are often defeated with the loss of one or
more of the party. Having no weapons but bows and arrows,
and the bad guns with which the traders supply them, they
are obliged to approach very near to the bear; and as no
wound except through the head or heart is mortal, they
frequently fall a sacrifice if they miss their aim. He rather
attacks than avoids a man, and such is the terror which he
has inspired, that the Indians who go in quest of him paint
themselves and perform all the superstitious rites customary
when they make war on a neighbouring nation. Hitherto
those we had seen did not appear desirous of encountering
us, but although to a skilful rifleman the danger is very
much diminished, yet the white bear is still a terrible animal:
on approaching these two, both captain Lewis and the
hunter fired and each wounded a bear: one of them made his
escape; the other turned upon captain Lewis and pursued
him seventy or eighty yards, but being badly wounded he
could not run so fast as to prevent him from reloading his
piece, which he again aimed at him, and a third shot from
the hunter brought him to the ground: he was a male not
quite full grown, and weighed about three hundred pounds:
the legs are somewhat longer than those of the black bear,
and the talons and tusks much larger and longer. The testicles
are also placed much farther forward and suspended
in separate pouches from two to four inches asunder, while
those of the black bear are situated back between the thighs
and in a single pouch like those of the dog: its colour is a yellowish
brown, the eyes small, black, and piercing, the front
of the fore legs near the feet is usually black, and the fur
is finer, thicker, and deeper than that of the black bear:
add to which, it is a more furious animal, and very remarkable
for the wounds which it will bear without dying.

We are surrounded with deer, elk, buffaloe, antelopes,
and their companions the wolves, who have become more
numerous and make great ravages among them: the hills
are here much more rough and high, and almost overhang
the banks of the river. There are greater appearances of
coal than we have hitherto seen, the stratas of it being in
some places six feet thick, and there are stratas of burnt
earth, which are always on the same level with those of coal.
In the evening after coming twenty-five miles we encamped
at the entrance of a river which empties itself into a bend
on the north side of the Missouri: this stream which we
called Martha's river, is about fifty yards wide, with water
for fifteen yards, the banks are of earth, and steep, though
not high, and the bed principally of mud. Captain Clarke,
who ascended it for three miles, found that it continued of
the same width with a gentle current, and pursuing its
course about north 30° west, through an extensive, fertile,
and beautiful valley, but without a single tree. The water
is clear, and has a brownish yellow tint; at this place the
highlands which yesterday and to-day had approached so
near the river became lower, and receding from the water
left a valley seven or eight miles wide.

Tuesday 30. The wind was high from the north during
last evening and continued so this morning: we however
continued, and found the river more winding than usual
and with a number of sand islands and bars, on one of which
last we encamped at the distance of twenty-four miles.
The low grounds are fertile and extensive but with very
little timber, and that cottonwood, very bad of its kind,
being too small for planks, and broken and dead at the top
and unsound in the centre of the trunk. We passed some
ancient lodges of driftwood which do not appear to have
been lately inhabited. The game continues abundant: we
killed the largest male elk we have yet seen; on placing
it in its natural erect position, we found that it measured
five feet three inches from the point of the hoof to the top

of the shoulder. The antelopes are yet lean and the females
are with young: this fleet and quick sighted animal is
generally the victim of its curiosity: when they first see the
hunters they run with great velocity; if he lies down on the
ground and lifts up his arm, his hat, or his foot, the antelope
returns on a light trot to look at the object, and sometimes
goes and returns two or three times till they approach
within reach of the rifle: so too they sometimes leave their
flock to go and look at the wolves who crouch down, and if
the antelope be frightened at first repeat the same manœuvre,
and sometimes relieve each other till they decoy it
from the party when they seize it. But generally the wolves
take them as they are crossing the rivers, for although
swift of foot they are not good swimmers.

Wednesday, May 1. The wind was in our favour and we
were enabled to use the sails till twelve o'clock, when the
wind became so high and squally that we were forced to
come to at the distance of ten miles on the south, in a low
ground stocked with cottonwood, and remain there during
the day; one of the canoes being separated from us, and not
able to cross over in consequence of the high waves. The
country around is more pleasant than that through which
we had passed for several days, the hills being lower, the
low grounds wider and better supplied with timber, which
consists principally of cottonwood: the undergrowth willow
on the banks and sandbars, rosebushes, redwillow, and the
broad-leafed willow in the low plains, while the high country
on both sides is one extensive plain without wood, though
the soil is a dark, rich, mellow loam. Our hunters killed a
buffaloe, an elk, a goat, and two beaver, and also a bird of
the plover kind.

Thursday, 2d. The wind continued high during the
night, and at daylight it began to snow and did not stop till
ten o'clock, when the ground was covered an inch deep,
forming a striking contrast with the vegetation which is
now considerably advanced; some flowers having put forth,

and the cottonwood leaves as large as a dollar. The wind
lulled about five o'clock in the afternoon, and we then proceeded
along wide fertile low grounds and high level plains,
and encamped at the distance of four miles. Our game today
was deer, elk, and buffaloe: we also procured three
beaver who are quite gentle, as they have not been hunted,
but when the hunters are in pursuit they never leave their
huts during the day: this animal we esteem a great delicacy,
particularly the tail, which when boiled resembles in flavour
the flesh tongues and sounds of the codfish, and is generally
so large as to afford a plentiful meal for two men. One of
the hunters in passing near an old Indian camp found several
yards of scarlet cloth, suspended on the bough of a tree
as a sacrifice to the deity by the Assiniboins: the custom of
making these offerings being common among that people
as indeed among all the Indians on the Missouri. The air
was sharp this evening; the water froze on the oars as we
rowed, and in the morning,

Friday, 3d, the weather became quite cold, the ice was
a quarter of an inch thick in the kettle, and the snow still
continued on the hills though it has melted from the plains.
The wind too continued high from the west, but not so
violently as to prevent our going on. At two miles from
our encampment we passed a curious collection of bushes
about thirty feet high and ten or twelve in diameter, tied in
the form of a fascine and standing on end in the middle of
the low ground: this too we supposed to have been left by
the Indians as a religious sacrifice: at twelve o'clock the usual
hour we halted for dinner. The low grounds on the river
are much wider than common, sometimes extending from
five to nine miles to the highlands, which are much lower
than heretofore, not being more than fifty or sixty feet
above the lower plain: through all this valley traces of the
ancient bed of the river are every where visible, and since
the hills have become lower, the stratas of coal, burnt
earth, and pumicestone have in a great measure ceased,

there being in fact none to-day. At the distance of fourteen
miles we reached the mouth of a river on the north, which
from the unusual number of porcupines near it, we called
Porcupine river. This is a bold and beautiful stream one
hundred and twelve yards wide, though the water is only
forty yards at its entrance: captain Clarke who ascended it
several miles and passed it above where it enters the highlands,
found it continued nearly of the same width and about
knee deep, and as far as he could distinguish for twenty
miles from the hills, its course was from a little to the
east of north. There was much timber on the low grounds:
he found some limestone also on the surface of the earth in
the course of his walk, and saw a range of low mountains
at a distance to the west of north, whose direction was
northwest; the adjoining country being every where level,
fertile, open, and exceedingly beautiful. The water of this
river is transparent, and is the only one that is so of all those
that fall into the Missouri: before entering a large sandbar
through which it discharges itself, its low grounds are
formed of a stiff blue and black clay, and its banks which
are from eight to ten feet high and seldom if ever overflow
are composed of the same materials. From the quantity of
water which this river contains, its direction, and the nature
of the country through which it passes, it is not improbable
that its sources may be near the main body of the
Saskaskawan, and as in high water it can be no doubt navigated
to a considerable distance, it may be rendered the
means of intercourse with the Athabasky country, from
which the northwest company derive so many of their valuable
furs.

A quarter of a mile beyond this river a creek falls in on
the south, to which on account of its distance from the mouth
of the Missouri, we gave it the name of Two-thousand mile
creek: it is a bold stream with a bed thirty yards wide.
Three miles and a half above Porcupine river, we reached
some high timber on the north, and encamped just above an

old channel of the river, which is now dry. We saw vast
quantities of buffaloe, elk, deer, principally of the long tailed
kind, antelopes, beaver, geese, ducks, brant, and some
swan. The porcupines too are numerous, and so careless and
clumsy that we can approach very near without disturbing
them as they are feeding on the young willows; towards
evening we also found for the first time, the nest of a goose
among some driftwood, all that we have hitherto seen being
on the top of a broken tree on the forks, and invariably
from fifteen to twenty feet or more in height.

Saturday 4. We were detained till nine in order to repair
the rudder of one of the boats, and when we set out the wind
was ahead; at six and a half miles we passed a small creek
in a deep bend on the south with a sand island opposite to it,
and then passing along an extensive plain which gradually
rises from the north side of the river, encamped at the distance
of eighteen miles in a point of woodland on the north:
the river is this day wider than usual, and crowded with
sandbars on all sides: the country is level, fertile, and beautiful,
the low grounds extensive and contain a much greater
portion of timber than is common: indeed all the forepart
of the day the river was bordered with timber on both sides,
a circumstance very rare on the Missouri, and the first that
has occurred since we left the Mandans. There are as
usual vast quantities of game, and extremely gentle; the
male buffaloe particularly will scarcely give way to us, and
as we approach will merely look at us for a moment, as
something new, and then quietly resume their feeding. In
the course of the day we passed some old Indian hunting
camps, one of which consisted of two large lodges fortified
with a circular fence, twenty or thirty feet in diameter, and
made of timber laid horizontally, the beams overlaying each
other to the height of five feet, and covered with the trunks
and limbs of trees that have drifted down the river: the
lodges themselves are formed by three or more strong sticks
about the size of a man's leg or arm, and twelve feet long,

which are attached at the top by a whith of small willows,
and spreading out so as to form at the base a circle of ten
or fourteen feet in diameter: against these are placed pieces
of driftwood and fallen timber, usually in three ranges one
on the other, and the interstices are covered with leaves,
bark, and straw, so as to form a conical figure about ten
feet high, with a small aperture in one side for the door.
It is, however, at best a very imperfect shelter against the
inclemencies of the seasons.

Sunday 5. We had a fine morning, and the wind being
from the east we used our sails. At the distance of five miles
we came to a small island, and twelve miles farther encamped
on the north, at the distance of seventeen miles. The
country like that of yesterday is beautiful in the extreme.
Among the vast quantities of game around us, we distinguish
a small species of goose differing considerably from
the common Canadian goose; its neck, head, and beak, being
much thicker, larger, and shorter in proportion to its
size, which is nearly a third smaller; the noise too resembling
more that of the brant or of a young goose that has
not yet fully acquired its note; in other respects its colour,
habits, and the number of feathers in the tail, the two species
correspond; this species also associates in flocks with
the large geese, but we have not seen it pair off with them.
The white brant is about the size of the common brown
brant, or two thirds of the common goose, than which it is
also six inches shorter from the extremity of the wings,
though the beak, head, and neck are larger and stronger:
the body and wings are of a beautiful pure white, except
the black feathers of the first and second joints of the wings;
the beak and legs are of a reddish or flesh-coloured white,
the eye of a moderate size, the pupil of a deep sea-green incircled
with a ring of yellowish brown, the tail consists of
sixteen feathers equally long, the flesh is dark and as well
as its note differs but little from those of the common brant,
whom in form and habits it resembles, and with whom it

sometimes unites in a common flock; the white brant also
associate by themselves in large flocks, but as they do not
seem to be mated or paired off, it is doubtful whether they
reside here during the summer for the purpose of rearing
their young.

The wolves are also very abundant, and are of two species.
First, the small wolf or burrowing dog of the prairies,
which are found in almost all the open plains. It is of
an intermediate size between the fox and dog, very delicately
formed, fleet and active. The ears are large, erect,
and pointed; the head long and pointed, like that of the fox;
the tail long and bushy; the hair and fur of a pale reddish
brown colour, though much coarser than that of the fox;
the eye of a deep sea-green colour, small and piercing; the
talons rather longer than those of the wolf of the Atlantic
states, which animal as far as we can perceive is not to be
found on this side of the river Platte. These wolves usually
associate in bands of ten or twelve, and are rarely if
ever seen alone, not being able singly to attack a deer or
antelope. They live and rear their young in burrows,
which they fix near some pass or spot much frequented by
game, and sally out in a body against any animal which
they think they can overpower, but on the slightest alarm
retreat to their burrows making a noise exactly like that
of a small dog.

The second species is lower, shorter in the legs and
thicker than the Atlantic wolf; their colour, which is not
affected by the seasons, is of every variety of shade, from a
gray or blackish brown to a cream coloured white. They
do not burrow, nor do they bark, but howl, and they frequent
the woods and plains, and skulk along the skirts
of the buffaloe herds, in order to attack the weary or
wounded.

Captain Clarke and one of the hunters met this evening
the largest brown bear we have seen. As they fired he
did not attempt to attack, but fled with a most tremendous

roar, and such was its extraordinary tenacity of life,
that although he had five balls passed through his lungs
and five other wounds, he swam more than half across the
river to a sandbar, and survived twenty minutes. He
weighed between five and six hundred pounds at least, and
measured eight feet seven inches and a half from the nose
to the extremity of the hind feet, five feet ten inches and
a half round the breast, three feet eleven inches round the
neck, one foot eleven inches round the middle of the foreleg,
and his talons, five on each foot, were four inches and
three eighths in length. It differs from the common black
bear in having its talons much longer and more blunt; its
tail shorter; its hair of a reddish or bay brown, longer,
finer, and more abundant; his liver, lungs, and heart, much
larger even in proportion to his size, the heart particularly
being equal to that of a large ox; his maw ten times larger;
his testicles pendant from the belly and in separate pouches
four inches apart: besides fish and flesh he feeds on roots,
and every kind of wild fruit.

The antelope are now lean and with young, so that they
may readily be caught at this season, as they cross the river
from S. W. to N. E.

Monday 6. The morning being fair and the wind favourable,
we set sail, and proceeded on very well the greater
part of the day. The country continues level, rich, and beautiful;
the low grounds wide and comparatively with the other
parts of the Missouri, well supplied with wood. The appearances
of coal, pumicestone, and burnt earth have ceased,
though the salts of tartar or vegetable salts continue on the
banks and sandbars, and sometimes in the little ravines at the
base of the low hills. We passed three streams on the south;
the first at the distance of one mile and a half from our
camp was about twenty-five yards wide, but although it contained
some water in standing pools it discharges none; this
we called Littledry creek, about eight miles beyond which
is Bigdry creek, fifty yards wide, without any water; the

third is six miles further, and has the bed of a large river
two hundred yards wide, yet without a drop of water: like
the other two this stream, which we called Bigdry river,
continues its width undiminished as far as we can discern.
The banks are low, the channel formed of a fine
brown sand, intermixed with a small proportion of little
pebbles of various colours, and the country around flat and
without trees. They had recently discharged their waters,
and from their appearance and the nature of the country
through which they pass, we concluded that they rose in the
Black mountains, or in the level low plains which are
probably between this place and the mountains; that the
country being nearly of the same kind and of the same latitude,
the rains of spring melting the snows about the same
time, conspire with them to throw at once vast quantities of
water down these channels, which are then left dry during
the summer, autumn, and winter, when there is very little
rain. We had to-day a slight sprinkling, but it lasted a very
short time. The game is in such plenty that it has become
a mere amusement to supply the party with provisions. We
made twenty-five miles to a clump of trees on the north where
we passed the night.

Tuesday 7. The morning was pleasant and we proceeded
at an early hour. There is much driftwood floating, and
what is contrary to our expectation, although the river is
rising, the water is somewhat clearer than usual. At eleven
o'clock the wind became so high that one of the boats was
nearly sunk, and we were obliged to stop till one, when we
proceeded on, and encamped on the south, above a large sandbar
projecting from the north, having made fifteen miles.
On the north side of the river are the most beautiful plains
we have yet seen; they rise gradually from the low grounds
on the water to the height of fifty or sixty feet, and then extend
in an unbroken level as far as the eye can reach: the
hills on the south are more broken and higher, though at
some distance back the country becomes level and fertile.

There are no more appearances of burnt earth, coal,
or pumicestone, though that of salt still continues, and
the vegetation seems to have advanced but little since
the twenty-eighth of last month: the game is as abundant
as usual. The bald-eagles, of whom we see great numbers,
probably feed on the carcases of dead animals,
for on the whole Missouri we have seen neither the blue-crested
fisher, nor the fishing-hawks, to supply them with
their favourite food, and the water of the river is so turbid
that no bird which feeds exclusively on fish can procure a
subsistence.

Wednesday 8. A light breeze from the east carried us sixteen
miles, till we halted for dinner at the entrance of a river
on the north. Captain Clarke who had walked on the south,
on ascending a high point opposite to its entrance discovered a
level and beautiful country which it watered; that its course
for twelve or fifteen miles was N. W. when it divided into
two nearly equal branches, one pursuing a direction nearly
north, the other to the W. of N. W: its width at the entrance
is one hundred and fifty yards, and on going three miles up,
captain Lewis found it to be of the same breadth, and sometimes
more; it is deep, gentle, and has a large quantity of
water; its bed is principally of mud, the banks abrupt, about
twelve feet in height, and formed of a dark, rich loam and
blue clay; the low grounds near it are wide and fertile, and
possess a considerable proportion of cottonwood and willow.
It seems to be navigable for boats and canoes, and this circumstance
joined to its course and the quantity of water, which
indicates that it passes through a large extent of country, we
are led to presume that it may approach the Saskashawan
and afford a communication with that river. The water
has a peculiar whiteness, such as might be produced by a
tablespoon full of milk in a dish of tea, and this circumstance
induced us to call it Milk river. In the evening we
had made twenty-seven miles, and encamped on the south.
The country on that side consists in general of high broken

hills, with much gray, black and brown granite seattered
over the surface of the ground. At a little distance
from the river there is no timber on either side, the wood
being confined as below to the margin of the river; so that
unless the contrary is particularly mentioned, it is always
understood that the upland is perfectly naked, and that
we consider the low grounds well timbered if even a fifth
be covered with wood. The wild liquorice is found in
great abundance on these hills, as is also the white apple.
As usual we are surrounded by buffaloe, elk, common and
blacktailed deer, beaver, antelopes and wolves. We observed
a place where an Indian had recently taken the
hair off an antelope's skin, and some of the party thought
they distinguished imperfectly some smoke and Indian
lodges up Milk river, marks which we are by no means desirous
of realizing, as the Indians are probably Assiniboins,
and might be very troublesome.

Thursday, 9th. We again had a favourable wind and
sailed along very well. Between four and five miles we
passed a large island in a deep bend to the north, and a
large sandbar at the upper point. At fifteen and a quarter
miles we reached the bed of a most extraordinary
river which presents itself on the south: though as wide as
the Missouri itself, that is about half a mile, it does not
discharge a drop of water and contains nothing but a few
standing pools. On ascending it three miles we found an
eminence from which we saw the direction of the channel,
first south for ten or twelve miles, then turning to the east
of southeast as far as we could see: it passes through a wide
valley without timber, and the surrounding country consists
of waving low hills interspersed with some handsome level
plains; the banks are abrupt and consist of a black or yellow
clay, or of a rich sandy loam, but though they do not
rise more than six or eight feet above the bed, they exhibit
no appearance of being overflowed: the bed is entirely
composed of a light brown sand, the particles of which like

those of the Missouri are extremely fine. Like the dry
rivers we passed before, this seemed to have discharged its
waters recently, but the watermark indicated that its greatest
depth had not been more than two feet: this stream, if it
deserve the name, we called Bigdry river. About a mile
below is a large creek on the same side, which is also perfectly
dry: the mineral salts and quartz are in large quantities
near this neighbourhood. The sand of the Missouri
from its mouth to this place has been mixed with a substance
which we had presumed to be a granulated talk, but which
is most probably this quartz. The game is now in great
quantities, particularly the elk and buffaloe, which last is
so gentle that the men are obliged to drive them out of the
way with sticks and stones. The ravages of the beaver are
very apparent: in one place the timber was entirely prostrated
for a space of three acres in front on the river
and one in depth, and great part of it removed, although the
trees were in large quantities, and some of them as thick as
the body of a man. At the distance of twenty-four miles
we encamped, after making twenty-five and a half miles, at
the entrance of a small creek in a bend on the north, to
which we gave the name of Werner's creek after one of
our men.

For several days past the river has been as wide as it
generally is near its mouth, but as it is much shallower,
crowded with sandbars, and the colour of the water has become
much clearer, we do not yet despair of reaching the
Rock mountains, for which we are very anxious.

Friday, 10th. We had not proceeded more than four
and a quarter miles when the violence of the wind forced
us to halt for the day under some timber in a bend on the
south side. The wind continued high, the clouds thick and
black, and we had a slight sprinkling of rain several times
in the course of the day. Shortly after our landing a dog
came to us, and as this induced us to believe that we are near
the hunting grounds of the Assiniboins, who are a vicious

ill-disposed people, it was necessary to be on our guard:
we therefore inspected our arms which we found in good
order, and sent several hunters to scour the country, but
they returned in the evening having seen no tents, nor any
recent tracks of Indians. Biles and imposthumes are very
common among the party, and sore eyes continue in a
greater or less degree with all of us; for the imposthumes
we use emollient poultices, and apply to the eyes a solution
of two grains of white vitriol and one of sugar of lead with
one ounce of water.

Saturday, 11th. The wind blew very hard in the night,
but having abated this morning we went on very well, till in
the afternoon the wind arose and retarded our progress;
the current too was strong, the river very crooked, and
the banks as usual constantly precipitating themselves in
large masses into the water. The highlands are broken
and approach nearer the river than they do below. The
soil however of both hills and low grounds appear as fertile
as that further down the river: it consists of a black looking
loam with a small portion of sand, which cover the hills
and bluffs to the depth of twenty or thirty feet, and when
thrown in the water dissolves as readily as loaf-sugar, and
effervesces like marble: there are also great appearances of
quartz and mineral salts: the first is most commonly seen
in the faces of the bluffs, the second is found on the hills as
well as the low grounds, and in the gullies which come
down from the hills; it lies in a crust of two or three inches in
depth, and may be swept up with a feather in large quantities.
There is no longer any appearance of coal burnt earth
or pumicestone. We saw and visited some high hills on the
north side about three miles from the river, whose tops were
covered with the pitch-pine: this is the first pine we have
seen on the Missouri, and it is like that of Virginia, except
that the leaves are somewhat longer: among this pine is also
a dwarf cedar, sometimes between three or four feet high,
but generally spreading itself like a vine along the surface

of the earth, which it covers very closely, putting out roots
from the under side. The fruit and smell resemble those
of the common red cedar, but the leaf is finer and more
delicate. The tops of the hills where these plants grow
have a soil quite different from that just described, the
basis of it is usually yellow or white clay, and the general
appearance light coloured, sandy, and barren, some
scattering tufts of sedge being almost its only herbage.
About five in the afternoon one of our men who had been
afflicted with biles, and suffered to walk on shore, came
running to the boats with loud cries and every symptom of
terror and distress: for some time after we had taken him
on board he was so much out of breath as to be unable to
describe the cause of his anxiety, but he at length told us
that about a mile and a half below he had shot a brown bear
which immediately turned and was in close pursuit of him;
but the bear being badly wounded could not overtake him.
Captain Lewis with seven men immediately went in search of
him, and having found his track followed him by the blood
for a mile, and found him concealed in some thick brushwood,
and shot him with two balls through the skull.
Though somewhat smaller than that killed a few days ago,
he was a monstrous animal and a most terrible enemy: our
man had shot him through the centre of the lungs, yet he
had pursued him furiously for half a mile, then returned
more than twice that distance, and with his talons had prepared
himself a bed in the earth two feet deep and five feet
long, and was perfectly alive when they found him, which was
at least two hours after he received the wound. The wonderful
power of life which these animals possess render them
dreadful: their very track in the mud or sand, which we have
sometimes found eleven inches long and seven and a quarter
wide, exclusive of the talons, is alarming; and we had rather
encounter two Indians than meet a single brown bear.
There is no chance of killing them by a single shot unless
the ball goes through the brains, and this is very difficult
on account of two large muscles which cover the side of the
forehead, and the sharp projection of the centre of the
frontal bone, which is also thick. Our encampment was
on the south at the distance of sixteen miles from that of
last night: the fleece and skin of the bear were a heavy
burden for two men, and the oil amounted to eight gallons.

Sunday, 12th. The weather being clear and calm, we
set out early. Within a mile we came to a small creek,
about twenty yards wide, emptying itself on the south. At
eleven and three quarter miles we reached a point of woodland
on the south, opposite to which is a creek of the same
width as the last, but with little water, which we called
Pine creek. At eighteen and three quarter miles we came
to on the south opposite to the lower point of a willow island,
situated in a deep bend of the river to the southeast: here
we remained during the day, the wind having risen at twelve
so high that we could not proceed: it continued to blow
violently all night, with occasional sprinklings of rain from
sunset till midnight. On both sides of the river the country
is rough and broken, the low grounds becoming narrower;
the tops of the hills on the north exhibits some scattered
pine and cedar, on the south the pine has not yet commenced,
though there is some cedar on the sides of the hills
and in the little ravines. The chokecherry, the wild hysop,
sage, fleshy-leafed thorn, and particularly the aromatic
herb on which the antelope and hare feed, are to be found
on the plains and hills. The soil of the hills has now altered
its texture considerably: their bases, like that of the river
plains, is as usual a rich, black loam, while from the middle
to the summits they are composed of a light brown-coloured
earth, poor and sterile, and intermixed with a coarse
white sand.

Monday, 13th. The wind was so strong that we could
not proceed till about one o'clock, when we had to encounter
a current rather stronger than usual. In the course of a
mile and a half we passed two small creeks on the south,

one of eighteen the other of thirty yards width, but neither
of them containing any water, and encamped on the south
at a point of woodland, having made only seven miles.
The country is much the same as yesterday, with little
timber in the low grounds, and a small quantity of pine and
cedar on the northern hills. The river however continues
to grow clearer, and this as well as the increased rapidity
induces us to hope for some change of country. The game
is as usual so abundant that we can get without difficulty
all that is necessary.

Tuesday, 14th. There was some fog on the river this
morning, which is a very rare occurrence. At the distance
of a mile and a half we reached an island in a bend on the
north, which continued for about half a mile, when at the
head of it a large creek comes in on the north, to which we
gave the name of Gibson's creek. At seven and a half miles
is a point of rocks on the south, above a creek on the same
side, which we called Sticklodge creek: five miles further
is a large creek on the south, which like the two others has
no running water; and at sixteen and a half miles a timbered
point on the north, where we encamped for the night. The
country is like that of yesterday, except that the low grounds
are wider: there are also many high black bluffs along the
banks: the game too is in great abundance. Towards evening
the men in the hindmost canoes discovered a large
brown bear lying in the opengrounds, about three hundred
paces from the river: six of them, all good hunters, immediately
went to attack him, and concealing themselves by a
small eminence came unperceived within forty paces of him:
four of the hunters now fired, and each lodged a ball in his
body, two of them directly through the lungs: the furious
animal sprung up and ran openmouthed upon them; as he
came near, the two hunters who had reserved their fire
gave him two wounds, one of which breaking his shoulder
retarded his motion for a moment; but before they could
reload he was so near that they were obliged to run to the

river, and before they reached it he had almost overtaken
them: two jumped into the canoe; the other four separated,
and concealing themselves in the willows fired as fast as
each could reload: they struck him several times, but instead
of weakening the monster each shot seemed only to
direct him towards the hunter, till at last he pursued two
of them so closely, that they threw aside their guns and
pouches, and jumped down a perpendicular bank of twenty
feet into the river; the bear sprang after them, and was
within a few feet of the hindmost, when one of the hunters
on shore shot him in the head and finally killed him: they
dragged him to the shore, and found that eight balls had
passed through him in different directions; the bear was old
and the meat tough, so that they took the skin only, and
rejoined us at camp, where we had been as much terrified
by an accident of a different kind. This was the narrow
escape of one of our canoes containing all our papers, instruments,
medicine, and almost every article indispensible
for the success of our enterprise. The canoe being under sail,
a sudden squall of wind struck her obliquely, and turned
her considerably. The man at the helm, who was unluckily
the worst steersman of the party, became alarmed, and instead
of putting her before the wind luffed her up into it.
The wind was so high that it forced the brace of the squaresail
out of the hand of the man who was attending it, and
instantly upset the canoe, which would have been turned
bottom upwards but for the resistance made by the awning.
Such was the confusion on board, and the waves ran so high,
that it was half a minute before she righted, and then nearly
full of water, but by baling out she was kept from sinking
until they rowed ashore: besides the loss of the lives of
three men who not being able to swim would probably have
perished, we should have been deprived of nearly every
thing necessary for our purposes, at a distance of between
two and three thousand miles from any place where we could
supply the deficiency.

Wednesday 15. As soon as a slight shower of rain had
passed, we spread out the articles to dry; but the weather
was so damp and cloudy that they derived little benefit
from exposure. Our hunters procured us deer, buffaloe,
and beaver.

Thursday 16. The morning was fair and we were enabled
to dry and repack our stores: the loss we sustained is
chiefly in the medicines, many articles of which are completely
spoiled, and others considerably injured. At four
o'clock we embarked, and after making seven miles encamped
on the north near some wood: the country on both sides
is broken, the low grounds narrower and with less timber,
though there are some scattered pine and cedar on the steep
declivities of the hills, which are now higher than usual.
A white bear tore the coat of one of the men which he had
left on shore; and two of the party wounded a large panther
who was feasting on a deer. We caught some lean antelopes
as they were swimming the river, and killed two
buffaloe.

Friday 17. We set out early and proceeded on very well
the banks being firm and the shore bold we were enabled to
use the towline, which, whenever the banks will permit it,
is the safest and most expeditious mode of ascending the
river, except under a sail with a steady breeze. At the distance
of ten and a half miles we came to the mouth of a
small creek on the south, below which the hills approach
the river, and continue near it during the day: three miles
further is a large creek on the north, and again six and
three quarter miles beyond it, another large creek to the
south, which contain a small quantity of running water of a
brackish taste. The last we called Rattlesnake creek from
our seeing that animal near it. Although no timber can be
observed on it from the Missouri, it throws out large quantities
of driftwood, among which were some pieces of coal
brought down by the stream. We continued on one mile
and a quarter, and encamped on the south after making

twenty and a half miles. The country in general is rugged,
the hills high, with their summits and sides partially covered
with pine and cedar, and their bases on both sides washed
by the river: like those already mentioned the lower part
of these hills is a dark rich loam, while the upper region for
one hundred and fifty feet consists of a whitish brown sand,
so hard as in many places to resemble stone, though in fact
very little stone or rock of any kind is to be seen on the
hills. The bed of the Missouri is much narrower than usual,
being not more than between two and three hundred yards
in width, with an uncommonly large proportion of gravel;
but the sandbars, and low points covered with willows have
almost entirely disappeared: the timber on the river consists
of scarcely any thing more than a few scattered cottonwood
trees. The saline incrustations along the banks and
the foot of the hills are more abundant than usual. The
game is in great quantities, but the buffaloe are not so numerous
as they were some days ago: two rattlesnakes were
seen to-day, and one of them killed: it resembles those of
the middle Atlantic states, being about two feet six inches
long, of a yellowish brown on the back and sides, variegated
with a row of oval dark brown spots lying transversely on
the back from the neck to the tail, and two other rows of
circular spots of the same colour on the sides along the edge
of the scuta: there are one hundred and seventy-six scuta
on the belly, and seventeen on the tail. Captain Clarke saw
in his excursions a fortified Indian camp which appeared to
have been recently occupied, and was, we presumed, made
by a party of Minnetarees who went to war last March.

Late at night we were roused by the sergeant of the guard
in consequence of a fire which had communicated to a tree
overhanging our camp. The wind was so high, that we had
not removed the camp more than a few minutes when a large
part of the tree fell precisely on the spot it had occupied, and
would have crushed us if we had not been alarmed in time.

Saturday 18. The wind continued high from the west,
but by means of the towline we were able to make nineteen
miles, the sandbars being now few in number, the river narrow
and the current gentle; the willow has in a great measure
disappeared, and even the cottonwood, almost the only
timber remaining, is growing scarce. At twelve and three
quarter miles we came to a creek on the north, which was
perfectly dry. We encamped on the south opposite the
lower point of an island.

Sunday 19. The last night was disagreeably cold; and
in the morning there was a very heavy fog which obscured
the river so much as to prevent our seeing the way. This
is the first fog of any degree of thickness which we have
experienced: there was also last evening a fall of dew, the
second which we have seen since entering this extensive
open country. About eight o'clock the fog dispersed, and
we proceeded with the aid of the towline: the island near
which we were encamped, was three quarters of a mile in
length. The country resembles that of yesterday, high hills
closely bordering the river. In the afternoon the river became
crooked, and contained more sawyers or floating timber
than we have seen in the same space since leaving the
Platte. Our game consisted of deer, beaver, and elk: we
also killed a brown bear, who, although shot through the
heart, ran at his usual pace nearly a quarter of a mile before
he fell. At twenty-one miles is a willow island half a
mile in length, on the north side, a quarter of a mile beyond
which is a shoal of rapid water under a bluff: the water
continued very strong for some distance beyond it: at half
a mile we came to a sandbar on the north, from which to
our place of encampment was another half mile, making in
all twenty-two and a quarter miles. The saline substances
which we have mentioned continue to appear; and the men
are much afflicted with sore eyes and imposthumes.

Monday 20. As usual we set out early, and the banks
being convenient for that purpose, we used the towline:

the river is narrow and crooked, the water rapid, and the
country much like that of yesterday: at the distance of two
and a quarter miles we passed a large creek with but little
water, to which we gave the name of Blowingfly creek,
from the quantity of those insects found in its neighbourhood.
They are extremely troublesome, infesting our meat
whilst cooking and at our meals. After making seven miles
we reached by eleven o'clock the mouth of a large river on
the south, and encamped for the day at the upper point of
its junction with the Missouri. This stream which we suppose
to be that called by the Minnetarees the Muscleshell
river, empties into the Missouri two thousand two hundred
and seventy miles above the mouth of the latter river, and
in latitude 47° 0′ 24″ 6 north. It is one hundred and ten
yards wide, and contains more water than streams of that
size usually do in this country; its current is by no means
rapid, and there is every appearance of its being susceptible
of navigation by canoes for a considerable distance: its
bed is chiefly formed of coarse sand and gravel, with an occasional
mixture of black mud; the banks abrupt and nearly
twelve feet high, so that they are secure from being overflowed:
the water is of a greenish yellow cast and much
more transparent than that of the Missouri, which itself,
though clearer than below, still retains its whitish hue and
a portion of its sediment. Opposite to the point of junction
the current of the Missouri is gentle, and two hundred and
twenty-two yards in width, the bed principally of mud (the
little sand remaining being wholly confined to the points)
and still too deep to use the settingpole. If this be, as we
suppose, the Muscleshell, our Indian information is, that
it rises in the first chain of the Rocky mountains not far
from the sources of the Yellowstone, whence in its course
to this place it waters a high broken country, well timbered
particularly on its borders, and interspersed with handsome
fertile plains and meadows. We have reason, however, to
believe, from their giving a similar account of the timber
where we now are, that the timber of which they speak is
similar to that which we have seen for a few days past,
which consists of nothing more than a few straggling small
pine and dwarf cedar, on the summits of the hills, nine-tenths
of the ground being totally destitute of wood, and covered
with a short grass, aromatic herbs, and an immense quantity
of prickly pears: though the party who explored it for
eight miles represented low grounds on the river as well
supplied with cottonwood of a tolerable size, and of an excellent
soil. They also reported that the country is broken
and irregular like that near our camp; that about five miles
up a handsome river about fifty yards wide, which we named
after Chaboneau's wife, Saheajahweah, or Birdwoman's
river, discharges itself into the Muscleshell on the
north or upper side. Another party found at the foot of
the southern hills, about four miles from the Missouri, a
fine bold spring, which in this country is so rare that since
we left the Mandans we have found only one of a similar
kind, and that was under the bluffs on the south side of the
Missouri, at some distance from it, and about five miles below
the Yellowstone: with this exception all the small fountains
of which we have met a number are impregnated with
the salts which are so abundant here, and with which the
Missouri is itself most probably tainted, though to us who
have been so much accustomed to it, the taste is not perceptible.
Among the game to-day we observed two large owls,
with remarkably long feathers resembling ears on the sides
of the head, which we presume are the hooting owls, though
they are larger and their colours are brighter than those
common in the United States.

Tuesday 21. The morning being very fine we were able
to employ the rope, and made twenty miles to our camp on
the north. The shores of the river are abrupt, bold and
composed of a black and yellow clay, the bars being formed
of black mud, and a small proportion of fine sand; the current
strong. In its course the Missouri makes a sudden

and extensive bend towards the south, to receive the waters
of the Muscleshell. The neck of land thus formed, though
itself high is lower than the surrounding country, and makes
a waving valley extending for a great distance to the northward,
with a fertile soil which, though without wood, produces
a fine turf of low grass, some herbs and vast quantities
of prickly pear. The country on the south is high,
broken, and crowned with some pine and dwarf cedar; the
leaf of this pine is longer than that of the common pitch or
red pine of Virginia, the cone is longer and narrower, the
imbrications wider and thicker, and the whole frequently
covered with rosin. During the whole day the bends of the
river are short and sudden; and the points covered with
some cottonwood, large or broad leaved willow, and a small
quantity of redwood; the undergrowth consisting of wild
roses, and the bushes of the small honeysuckle.

The mineral appearances on the river are as usual. We
do not find the grouse or prairie hen so abundant as below,
and think it probable that they retire from the river to the
plains during this season.

The wind had been moderate during the fore part of the
day, but continued to rise towards evening, and about dark
veered to northwest, and blew a storm all night. We had
encamped on a bar on the north, opposite the lower point
of an island, which from this circumstance we called Windy
island; but we were so annoyed by clouds of dust and sand
that we could neither eat nor sleep, and were forced to remove
our camp at eight o'clock to the foot of an adjoining
hill, which shielded us in some degree from the wind: we
procured elk, deer, and buffaloe.

Wednesday 22. The wind blew so violently that it was
deemed prudent to wait till it had abated, so that we did
not leave the camp till ten o'clock, when we proceeded
principally by the towline. We passed Windy island which
is about three quarters of a mile in length: and five and a
half miles above it a large island in a bend to the north:

three miles beyond this we came to the entrance of a creek
twenty yards wide, though with little water, which we called
Grouse creek, from observing near its mouth a quantity
of the prairie hen with pointed tails, the first we have seen
in such numbers for several days: the low grounds are
somewhat wider than usual and apparently fertile, though
the short and scanty grass on the hills does not indicate
much richness of soil. The country around is not so broken
as that of yesterday, but is still waving, the southern
hills possessing more pine than usual, and some appearing
on the northern hills, which are accompanied by the usual
salt and mineral appearances.

The river continues about two hundred and fifty yards
wide, with fewer sandbars, and the current more gentle
and regular. Game is no longer in such abundance, since
leaving the Muscleshell. We have caught very few fish on
this side of the Mandans, and these were the white catfish
of two to five pounds. We killed a deer and a bear: we
have not seen in this quarter the black bear, common in the
United States and on the lower parts of the Missouri, nor
have we discerned any of their tracks, which may easily be
distinguished by the shortness of its talons from the brown,
grizzly, or white bear, all of which seem to be of the same
family, which assumes those colours at different seasons of
the year. We halted earlier than usual, and encamped on
the north, in a point of woods, at the distance of sixteen
and a half miles.