University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER X.

Friday, 18. We set out this morning after an early
breakfast, and crossing the river, continued along the north
side for four miles, to the foot of the first rapid. Here it
was necessary to unload and make a portage of seven paces
over a rock, round which we then drew the empty boats by
means of a cord, and the assistance of setting poles. We
then reloaded, and at the distance of five miles, reached the
basin at the foot of the long narrows. After unloading and
arranging the camp, we went up to the Skilloot village, where
we found captain Clarke. He had not been able to procure
more than four horses, for which he was obliged to give
double the price of those formerly purchased from the Shoshonees
and the first tribe of Flatheads. These, however, we
hoped might be sufficient with the aid of the small canoes
to convey our baggage as far as the villages near the Muscleshell
rapid, where horses are cheaper and more abundant,
and where we may probably exchange the canoes for as
many horses as we want. The Skilloots, indeed, have a

number of horses, but they are unwilling to part with them,
though at last we laid out three parcels of merchandise, for
each of which they promised to bring us a horse in the
morning. The long narrows have a much more formidable
appearance than when we passed them in the autumn, so
that it would, in fact, be impossible either to descend or go
up them in any kind of boat. As we had therefore no further
use for the two periogues, we cut them up for fuel, and
early in the morning,

Saturday 19, all the party began to carry the merchandise
over the portage. This we accomplished with the aid
of our four horses, by three o'clock in the afternoon, when
we formed our camp a little above the Skilloot village.
Since we left them in the autumn they have removed their
village a few hundred yards lower down the river, and have
exchanged the cellars in which we then found them, for more
pleasant dwellings on the surface of the ground. These are
formed by sticks, and covered with mats and straw, and so
large, that each is the residence of several families. They
are also much better clad than any of the natives below, or
than they were themselves last autumn; the dress of the
men consists generally of leggings, moccasins, and large
robes, and many of them wear shirts in the same form used
by the Chopunnish and Shoshonees, highly ornamented, as
well as the leggings and moccasins, with porcupine quills.
Their modesty is protected by the skin of a fox or some
other animal, drawn under a girdle and hanging in front
like a narrow apron. The dress of the women differs but little
from that worn near the rapids; and both sexes wear the
hair over the forehead as low as the eyebrows, with large
locks cut square at the ears, and the rest hanging in two
queues in front of the body. The robes are made principally
of the skins of deer, elk, bighorn, some wolf and buffaloe,
while the children use the skins of the large gray squirrel.
The buffaloe is procured from the nations higher up the
river, who occasionally visit the Missouri; indeed, the

greater proportion of their apparel is brought by the
nations to the northwest, who come to trade for pounded
fish, copper, and beads. Their chief fuel is straw, southernwood,
and small willows. The bear-grass, the bark of the
cedar, and the silk-grass are employed in various articles
of manufacture.

The whole village was filled with rejoicing to-day, at
having caught a single salmon, which was considered as the
harbinger of vast quantities in four or five days. In order to
hasten their arrival, the Indians according to custom, dressed
fish and cut it into small pieces, one of which was given to
each child in the village. In the good humour excited by
this occurrence, they parted, though reluctantly, with four
other horses, for which we gave them two kettles, reserving
only a single small one for a mess of eight men. Unluckily,
however, we lost one of the horses by the negligence of the
person to whose charge he was committed. The rest were
therefore hobbled and tied; but as the nations here do not
understand gelding, all the horses but one were stallions,
and this being the season when they are most vicious, we
had great difficulty in managing them, and were obliged to
keep watch over them all night. In the afternoon captain
Clarke set out with four men for the Eneeshur village at
the grand falls, in order to make further attempts to procure
horses.

Sunday, 20. As it was obviously our interest to preserve the
good will of these people, we passed over several small thefts
which they have committed, but this morning we learnt that
six tomahawks and a knife had been stolen during the night.
We addressed ourselves to the chief, who seemed angry with
his people and made a harangue to them, but we did not recover
the articles, and soon after, two of our spoons were missing.
We therefore ordered them all from our camp, threatning to
beat severely any one detected in purloining. This harshness
irritated them so much that they left us in an ill-humour,
and we therefore kept on our guard against any insult. Besides

this knavery, the faithlessness of the people is intolerable,
frequently after receiving goods in exchange for a
horse, they return in a few hours and insist on revoking the
bargain, or receiving some additional value. We discovered
too, that the horse which was missing yesterday, had been
gambled away by the fellow from whom we had purchased
him, to a man of a different nation, who had carried him off.
Besides these, we bought two more horses, two dogs, and
some chapelell, and also exchanged a couple of elk skins for
a gun belonging to the chief. This was all we could obtain,
for though they had a great abundance of dried fish, they
would not sell it, except at a price too exorbitant for our
finances. We now found that no more horses could be procured,
and therefore prepared for setting out to-morrow.
One of the canoes, for which the Indians would give us very
little, was cut up for fuel, two others, together with some
elk skins and pieces of old iron, we bartered for beads, and
the remaining two small canoes were despatched early next
morning,

Monday, 21, with all the baggage which could not be
carried on horseback. We had intended setting out at the
same time, but one of our horses broke loose during the
night, and we were under the necessity of sending several
men in search of him. In the meantime, the Indians, who
were always on the alert, stole a tomahawk, which we could
not recover, though several of them were searched. Another
fellow was detected in carrying off a piece of iron, and kicked
out of camp: captain Lewis then, addressing the Indians, declared
that he was not afraid to fight them; for if he chose, he
might easily put them to death, and burn their village; that
he did not wish to treat them ill if they did not steal; and
that although if he knew who had the tomahawks he would
take away the horses of the thieves, yet he would rather
loose the property altogether than take the horse of an innocent
man. The chiefs were present at this harangue,
hung their heads and made no reply. At ten o'clock the

men returned with the horse, and soon after, an Indian who
had promised to go with us as far as the Chopunnish, came
with two horses, one of which he politely offered to carry
our baggage. We therefore loaded nine horses, and giving
the tenth to Bratton, who was still too sick to walk, about
ten o'clock left the village of these disagreeable people. At
one o'clock we arrived at the village of the Eneeshurs,
where we found captain Clarke, who had been completely
unsuccessful in his attempts to purchase horses, the Eneeshurs
being quite as unfriendly as the Skilloots. Fortunately,
however, the fellow who had sold a horse, and afterwards
lost him at gambling, belonged to this village, and
we insisted on taking the kettle and knife which had been
given to him for the horse, if he did not replace it by one of
equal value. He preferred the latter, and brought us a very
good horse. Being here joined by the canoes and baggage
across the portage, we halted half a mile above the town, and
took dinner on some dogs, after which we proceeded on about
four miles and encamped at a village of Eneeshurs, consisting
of nine mat huts, a little below the mouth of the Towahnahiooks.
We obtained from these people a couple of dogs and a
small quantity of fuel, for which we were obliged to give a
higher price than usual. We also bought a horse with a back
so much injured, that he can scarcely be of much service to
us, but the price was some trifling articles, which in the
United States would cost about a dollar and a quarter. The
dress, the manners, and the language of the Eneeshurs differ
in no respect from those of the Skilloots. Like them too,
these Eneeshurs are inhospitable and parsimonious, faithless
to their engagements, and in the midst of poverty and
filth, retain a degree of pride and arrogance which render
our numbers our only protection against insult, pillage, and
even murder. We are, however, assured by our Chopunnish
guide, who appears to be a very sincere, honest Indian,
that the nations above will treat us with much more hospitality.

Tuesday 22. Two of our horses broke loose in the night
and straggled to some distance, so that we were not able to
retake them and begin our march before seven o'clock. We
had just reached the top of a hill near the village, when the
load of one of the horses turned, and the animal taking
fright at a robe which still adhered to him, ran furiously towards
the village: just as he came there the robe fell, and
an Indian hid it in his hut. Two men went back after the
horse which they soon took, but the robe was still missing,
and the Indians denied having seen it. These repeated acts
of knavery now exhausted our patience, and captain Lewis
therefore set out for the village, determined to make them
deliver up the robe, or to burn the village to the ground.
This disagreeable alternative was rendered unnecessary, for
on his way he met one of our men, who had found the robe
in an Indian hut hid behind some baggage. We resumed our
route, and soon after halted at a hill, from the top of which
we enjoyed a commanding view of the range of mountains in
which mount Hood stands, and which continue south as far
as the eye can reach, with their tops covered with snow.
mount Hood itself bears south 30° west, and the snowy
summit of mount Jefferson south 10° west. Towards the
south and at no great distance we discern some woody country,
and opposite this point of view is the mouth of the Towahnahiooks.
This river receives, at the distance of eighteen
or twenty miles, a branch from the right, which takes its
rise in mount Hood, while the main stream comes in a course
from the southeast, and ten or fifteen miles is joined by a second
branch from mount Jefferson. From this place we proceeded
with our baggage in the centre, escorted both before
and behind by those of the men who were without the care
of horses, and having crossed a plain eight miles in extent,
reached a village of Eneeshurs, consisting of six houses.
Here we bought some dogs on which we dined near the village,
and having purchased another horse, went up the river
four miles further, to another Eneeshur village of seven mat

houses. Our guide now informed us that the next village
was at such a distance that we should not reach it this evening,
and as we should be able to procure both dogs and wood
at this place, we determined to encamp. We here purchased
a horse, and engaged for a second in exchange for one of
our canoes, but as they were on the opposite side of the
river, and the wind very high, they were not able to cross before
sunset, at which time the Indian had returned home to
the next village above. This evening, as well as at dinnertime,
we were obliged to buy wood to cook our meat, for there
is no timber in the country, and all the fuel is brought from
a great distance. We obtained as much as answered our purposes
on moderate terms, but as we are too poor to afford
more than a single fire, and lie without any shelter, we find
the nights disagreeably cold, though the weather is warm
during the daytime. The next morning,

Wednesday 23, two of the horses strayed away in consequence
of neglecting to tie them as had been directed. One
of them was recovered, but as we had a long ride to make
before reaching the next village, we could wait no longer
than eleven o'clock for the other. Not being found at
that time we set out, and after marching for twelve miles
over the sands of a narrow rocky bottom on the north side
of the river, came to a village near the Rock rapid, at the
mouth of a large creek, which we had not observed in descending.
It consisted of twelve temporary huts of mat, inhabited
by a tribe called Wahhowpum, who speak a language
very similar to that of the Chopunnish, whom they resemble
also in dress, both sexes being clad in robes and shirts as
well as leggings and moccasins. These people seemed much
pleased to see us, and readily gave us four dogs and some
chapelell and wood in exchange for small articles, such as
potter-buttons, strips of tin, iron, and brass, and some twisted
wire, which we had previously prepared for our journey
across the plains. These people, as well as some more living
in five huts a little below them, were waiting the return

of the salmon. We also found a Chopunnish returning home
with his family and a dozen young horses, some of which he
wanted us to hire, but this we declined, as in that case we
should be obliged to maintain him and his family on the
route. After arranging the camp we assembled all the warriors,
and having smoked with them, the violins were produced,
and some of the men danced. This civility was returned
by the Indians in a style of dancing such as we had
not yet seen. The spectators formed a circle round the dancers,
who with their robes drawn tightly round the shoulders,
and divided into parties of five or six men, perform by crossing
in a line from one side of the circle to the other. All the
parties, performers as well as spectators, sang, and after
proceeding in this way for some time, the spectators join,
and the whole concludes by a promiscuous dance and song.
Having finished, the natives retired at our request, after
promising to barter horses with us in the morning. The
river is by no means so difficult of passage nor obstructed by
so many rapids as it was in the autumn, the water being now
sufficiently high to cover the rocks in the bed. In the
morning,

Thursday 24, we began early to look for our horses, but
they were not collected before one o'clock. In the meantime
we prepared saddles for three new horses which we purchased
from the Wahhowpums, and agreed to hire three
more from the Chopunnish Indian who was to accompany
us with his family. The natives also had promised to take
our canoes in exchange for horses; but when they found that
we were resolved on travelling by land, they refused giving
us any thing, in hopes that we would be forced to leave them.
Disgusted at this conduct, we determined rather to cut
them to pieces than suffer these people to enjoy them, and
actually began to split them, on which they gave us several
strands of beads for each canoe. We had now a sufficient
number of horses to carry our baggage, and therefore proceeded
wholly by land. At two o'clock we set out, and passing

between the hills and the northern shore of the river,
had a difficult and fatiguing march over a road alternately
sandy and rocky. At the distance of four miles, we came to
four huts of the Metcowwee tribe, two miles further the
same number of huts, and after making twelve miles from
our last night's camp, halted at a larger village of five huts
of Metcowwees.

As we came along many of the natives passed and repassed
without making any advances to converse, though
they behaved with distant respect. We observed in our
route no animals except the killdeer, the brown lizard, and
a moonax, which the people had domesticated as a favourite.
Most of the men complain of a soreness in their feet
and legs, occasioned by walking on rough stones and deep
sands, after being accustomed for some months past to a
soft soil. We therefore determined to remain here this
evening, and for this purpose bought three dogs and some
chapelell, which we cooked with dry grass and willow
boughs. The want of wood is a serious inconvenience, on
account of the coolness of the nights, particularly when the
wind sets from mount Hood, or in any western direction:
those winds being much colder than the winds from the
Rocky mountains. There are no dews in the plains, and
from the appearance, we presume, that no rain has fallen
for several weeks. By nine o'clock the following morning,

Friday 25, we collected our horses and proceeded eleven
miles to a large village of fifty-one mat houses, where we
purchased some wood and a few dogs, on which we made our
dinner. The village contained about seven hundred persons
of a tribe called Pishquitpah, whose residence on the river
is only during the spring and summer, the autumn and winter
being passed in hunting through the plains, and along
the borders of the mountains. The greater part of them
were at a distance from the river as we descended, and never
having seen white men before, they flocked round us in
great numbers; but although they were exceedingly curious

they treated us with great respect, and were very urgent
that we should spend the night with them. Two principal
chiefs were pointed out by our Chopunnish companion, and
acknowledged by the tribe, and we therefore invested each of
them with a small medal. We were also very desirous of
purchasing more horses; but as our principal stock of merchandise
consists of a dirk, a sword, and a few old clothes,
the Indians could not be induced to traffic with us. The
Pishquitpahs are generally of a good stature and proportion,
and as the heads of neither males nor females are so much
flattened as those lower down the river, their features are
rather pleasant. The hair is braided in the manner practised
by their western neighbours; but the generality of the
men are dressed in a large robe, under which is a shirt
reaching to the knees, where it is met by long leggings, and
the feet covered with moccasins: others, however, wear only
the truss and robe. As they unite the occupations of hunting
and fishing life, both sexes ride very dexterously, their
caparison being a saddle or pad of dressed skin, stuffed
with goats' hair, and from which wooden stirrups are suspended;
and a hair rope tied at both ends to the under jaw
of the animal.

The horses, however, though good, suffer much, as do in
fact all Indian horses, from sore backs. Finding them not
disposed to barter with us, we left the Pishquitpahs at four
o'clock, accompanied by eighteen or twenty of their young
men on horseback. At the distance of four miles, we passed,
without halting, five houses belonging to the Wollawollahs;
and five miles further, observing as many willows as
would answer the purpose of making fires, availed ourselves
of the circumstance, by encamping near them. The country
through which we passed bore the same appearance as
that of yesterday. The hills on both sides of the river are
about two hundred and fifty feet high, generally abrupt and
craggy, and in many places presenting a perpendicular face
of black, hard, and solid rock. From the top of these hills,

the country extends itself in level plains to a very great distance,
and though not as fertile as the land near the falls,
produces an abundant supply of low grass, which is an excellent
food for horses. This grass must indeed be unusually
nutritious, for even at this season of the year, after
wintering on the dry grass of the plains, and being used with
greater severity than is usual among the whites, many of
these horses are perfectly fat, nor have we, indeed, seen a
single one who was poor. In the course of the day we killed
several rattlesnakes, like those of the United States, and
saw many of the common as well as the horned-lizard. We
also killed six ducks, one of which proved to be of a different
species from any we had yet seen, being distinguished
by yellow legs, and feet webbed like those of the duckinmallard.
The Pishquitpahs passed the night with us, and at
their request, the violin was played, and some of the men
amused themselves with dancing. At the same time we
succeeded in obtaining two horses at nearly the same prices
which had already been refused in the village. In the
morning,

Saturday 26, we set out early. At the distance of three
miles, the river hills become low, and retiring to a great
distance, leave a low, level, extensive plain, which on the
other side of the river, had begun thirteen miles lower. As
we were crossing this plain, we were overtaken by several
families travelling up the river with a number of horses,
and although their company was inconvenient, for the weather
was warm, the roads dusty, and their horses crowded in
and broke our line of march, yet we were unwilling to displease
the Indians by any act of severity. The plain possesses
much grass and a variety of herbaceous plants and
shrubs; but after going twelve miles, we were fortunate
enough to find a few willows, which enabled us to cook a
dinner of jerked elk, and the remainder of the dogs purchased
yesterday. We then went on sixteen miles further, and
six miles above our camp of the nineteenth of October, encamped

in the rain, about a mile below three houses of Wollawollahs.
Soon after we halted, an Indian boy took a piece
of bone, which he substituted for a fish-hook, and caught
several chub, nine inches long.

Sunday, 27. We were detained till nine o'clock, before a
horse, which broke loose in the night, could be recovered.
We then passed, near our camp, a small river, called
Youmalolam, proceeded through a continuation, till at
the distance of fifteen miles, the abrupt and rocky hills
three hundred feet high, return to the river. These we ascended,
and then crossed a higher plain for nine miles, when
we again came to the water side. We had been induced to
make this long march because we had but little provisions,
and hoped to find a Wollawollah village, which our guide
had told us we should reach when next we met the river.
There was, however, no village to be seen, and as both the
men and horses were fatigued, we halted, and collecting
some dry stalks of weeds and the stems of a plant resembling
southern wood, cooked a small quantity of jerked meat
for dinner. Soon after we were joined by seven Wollawollahs,
among whom we recognised a chief by the name of
Yellept, who had visited us on the nineteenth of October,
when we gave him a medal with the promise of a larger one
on our return. He appeared very much pleased at seeing
us again, and invited us to remain at his village three or
four days, during which he would supply us with the only food
they had, and furnish us with horses for our journey. After
the cold, inhospitable treatment we have lately received,
this kind offer was peculiarly acceptable, and after a hasty
meal, we accompanied him to his village, six miles above,
situated on the edge of the low country, and about twelve
miles below the mouth of Lewis's river. Immediately on
our arrival, Yellept, who proved to be a man of much influence,
not only in his own, but in the neighbouring nations,
collected the inhabitants, and after having made an harangue,
the purport of which was to induce the nations to

treat us hospitably, set them an example, by bringing himself
an armfull of wood, and a platter containing three roasted
mullets. They immediately assented to one part, at
least of the recommendation, by furnishing us with an abundance
of the only sort of fuel they employ, the stems of
shrubs growing in the plains. We then purchased four dogs,
on which we supped heartily, having been on short allowance
for two days past. When we were disposed to sleep,
the Indians retired immediately on our request, and indeed,
uniformly conducted themselves with great propriety. These
people live on roots, which are very abundant in the plains,
and catch a few salmon-trout; but at present they seem to
subsist chiefly on a species of mullet, weighing from one to
three pounds. They now informed us that opposite to the
village, there was a route which led to the mouth of the
Kooskooskee, on the south side of Lewis's river, that the
road itself was good, and passed over a level country, well
supplied with water and grass, and that we should meet
with plenty of deer and antelope. We knew that a road in that
direction would shorten the distance at least eighty miles,
and as the report of our guide was confirmed by Yellept and
other Indians, we did not hesitate to adopt that course; they
added, however, that there were no houses or permanent residence
of Indians on the road, and it was therefore deemed
prudent not to trust wholly to our guns, but to lay in a stock
of provisions. In the morning,

Monday, 28, therefore we purchased ten dogs. While this
trade was carrying on by our men, Yellept brought a fine
white horse, and presented him to captain Clarke, expressing
at the same time, a wish to have a kettle; but on being
informed that we had already disposed of the last kettle we
could spare, he said he would be content with any present
we should make in return. Captain Clarke therefore gave
his sword, for which the chief had before expressed a desire,
adding one hundred balls, some powder, and other
small articles, with which he appeared perfectly satisfied.

We were now anxious to depart, and requested Yellept to
lend us canoes for the purpose of crossing the river. But
he would not listen to any proposal of leaving the village.
He wished us to remain two or three days; but would not
let us go to-day, for he had already sent to invite his neighbours,
the Chimnapoos, to come down this evening and join
his people in a dance for our amusement. We urged, in
vain, that by setting out sooner, we would the earlier return
with the articles they desired; for a day, he observed,
would make but little difference. We at length mentioned,
that as there was no wind, it was now the best time to cross
the river, and would merely take the horses over, and return
to sleep at their village. To this he assented, and we
then crossed with our horses, and having hobbled them, returned
to their camp. Fortunately there was among these
Wollawollahs, a prisoner belonging to a tribe of Shoshonee
or Snake Indians, residing to the south of the Multnomah,
and visiting occasionally the heads of the Wollawollah
creek. Our Shoshonee woman, Sacajaweah, though she
belonged to a tribe near the Missouri, spoke the same language
as this prisoner, and by their means we were able to
explain ourselves to the Indians, and answer all their inquiries
with respect to ourselves and the object of our journey.
Our conversation inspired them with much confidence,
and they soon brought several sick persons, for whom they
requested our assistance. We splintered the broken arm
of one, gave some relief to another, whose knee was contracted
by rheumatism, and administered what we thought
beneficial for uleers and eruptions of the skin, on various
parts of the body, which are very common disorders among
them. But our most valuable medicine was eye-water,
which we distributed, and which, indeed, they required
very much: the complaint of the eyes, occasioned by living
on the water, and increased by the fine sand of the
plains, being now universal.

A little before sunset, the Chimnapoos, amounting to
one hundred men, and a few women, came to the village,
and joining the Wollawollahs, who were about the same number
of men, formed themselves in a circle round our camp,
and waited very patiently till our men were disposed to
dance, which they did for about an hour, to the tune of the
violin. They then requested to see the Indians dance.
With this they readily complied, and the whole assemblage,
amounting, with the women and children of the village,
to several hundred, stood up, and sang and danced at the
same time. The exercise was not, indeed, very violent nor
very graceful, for the greater part of them were formed into
a solid column, round a kind of hollow square, stood on
the same place, and merely jumped up at intervals, to keep
time to the music. Some, however, of the more active
warriors, entered the square, and danced round it sidewise,
and some of our men joined in the dance, to the great satisfaction
of the Indians. The dance continued till ten o'clock.
The next morning,

Tuesday 29. Yellept supplied us with two canoes in which
we crossed with all our baggage by eleven o'clock, but the
horses having strayed to some distance, we could not collect
them in time to reach any fit place to encamp if we began our
journey, as night would overtake us before we came to water.
We therefore thought it adviseable to encamp about a mile
from the Columbia, on the mouth of the Wollawollah river.
This is a handsome stream, about fifty yards wide, and four
and a half feet in depth: its waters, which are clear, roll
over a bed composed principally of gravel, intermixed with
some sand and mud, and though the banks are low they do
not seem to be overflowed. It empties into the Columbia,
about twelve or fifteen miles from the entrance of Lewis's
river, and just above a range of high hills crossing the Columbia.
Its sources, like those of the Towahnahiooks, Lapage,
Youmalolam, and Wollawollah, come, as the Indians
inform us, from the north side of a range of mountains which

we see to the east and southeast, and which, commencing to
the south of mount Hood, stretch in a northeastern direction
to the neighbourhood of a southern branch of Lewis's river,
at some distance from the Rocky mountains. Two principal
branches however of the Towahnahiooks take their rise
in mount Jefferson and mount Hood, which in fact appear
to separate the waters of the Multnomah and Columbia.
They are now about sixty-five or seventy miles from this
place, and although covered with snow, do not seem high.
To the south of these mountains the Indian prisoner says
there is a river, running towards the northwest, as large as
the Columbia at this place, which is nearly a mile. This
account may be exaggerated, but it serves to show that the
Multnomah must be a very large river, and that with the assistance
of a southeastern branch of Lewis's river, passing
round the eastern extremity of that chain of mountains in
which mounts Hood and Jefferson are so conspicuous, waters
the vast tract of country to the south, till its remote sources
approach those of the Missouri and Rio del Norde.

Near our camp is a fish-weir, formed of two curtains of
small willow switches, matted together with wythes of the
same plant, and extending across the river in two parallel
lines, six feet asunder. These are supported by several parcels
of poles, in the manner already described, as in use among
the Shoshonees, and are either rolled up or let down at pleasure
for a few feet, so as either to suffer the fish to pass or
detain them. A seine of fifteen or eighteen feet in length is
then dragged down the river by two persons, and the bottom
drawn up against the curtain of willows. They also employ
a smaller seine like a scooping net, one side of which is confined
to a semicircular bow five feet long, and half the size
of a man's arm, and the other side is held by a strong rope,
which being tied at both ends to the bow, forms the chord to
the semicircle. This is used by one person, but the only
fish which they can take at this time is a mullet of from
four to five pounds in weight, and this is the chief subsistence

of a village of twelve houses of Wollawollahs, a little
below us on this river, as well as of others on the opposite
side of the Columbia. In the course of the day we gave
small medals to two inferior chiefs, each of whom made us a
present of a fine horse. We were in a poor condition to make
an adequate acknowledgment for this kindness, but gave
several articles, among which was a pistol, with some hundred
rounds of ammunition. We have indeed been treated by
these people with an unusual degree of kindness and civility.
They seem to have been successful in their hunting during
the last winter, for all of them, but particularly the women,
are much better clad than when we saw them last; both sexes
among the Wollawollahs, as well as the Chimnapoos, being
provided with good robes, moccasins, long shirts, and
leggings. Their ornaments are similar to those used below,
the hair cut in the forehead, and queues falling over the
shoulders in front of the body: some have some small plaits
at the earlocks, and others tie a bundle of the docked foretop
in front of the forehead.

They were anxious that we should repeat our dance of
last evening, but as it rained a little and the wind was high,
we found the weather too cold for such amusement.

Wednesday 30. Although we had hobbled and secured
our new purchases, we found some difficulty in collecting all
our horses. In the meantime we purchased several dogs,
and two horses, besides exchanging one of our least valuable
horses for a very good one belonging to the Chopunnish who
is accompanying us with his family. The daughter of this
man is now about the age of puberty, and being incommoded
by the disorder incident to that age, she is not permitted to
associate with the family, but sleeps at a distance from her
father's camp, and on the route always follows at some distance
alone. This delicacy or affectation is common to many
nations of Indians, among whom a girl in that state is separated
from her family, and forbidden to use any article of
the household or kitchen furniture, or to engage in any occupation.

We have now twenty-three horses, many of whom
are young and excellent animals, but the greater part of
them are afflicted with sore backs. The Indians in general are
cruel masters; they ride very hard, and as the saddles are so
badly constructed that it is almost impossible to avoid wounding
the back, yet they continue to ride when the poor creatures
are sacrified in a dreadful manner. At eleven o'clock
we left these honest, worthy people, accompanied by our
guide and the Chopunnish family, and directed our course
north 30° east, across an open level sandy plain, unbroken except
by large banks of pure sand, which have drifed in many
parts of the plain to the height of fifteen or twenty feet.
The rest of the plain is poor in point of soil, but throughout
is generally short grass interspersed with aromatic shrubs,
and a number of plants, the roots of which supply the chief
sustenance of the natives. Among these we observe a root
something like the sweet potatoe. At the distance of fourteen
miles we reached a branch of Wollawollah river, rising
in the same range of mountains, and empties itself six miles
above the mouth of the latter. It is a bold deep stream,
about ten yards wide, and seems to be navigable for canoes.
The hills of this creek are generally abrupt and rocky, but
the narrow bottom is very fertile, and both possess twenty
times as much timber as the Columbia itself; indeed, we
now find, for the first time since leaving Rockfort, an abundance
of firewood. The growth consists of cotton-wood,
birch, the crimson haw, red and sweet willow, chokecherry,
yellow currants, gooseberry, the honeysuckle with a white
berry, rosebushes, sevenbark, sumac, together with some
corn-grass and rushes. The advantage of a comfortable
fire induced us, as the night was come, to halt at this place.
We were soon supplied by Drewyer with a beaver and an
otter, of which we took only a part of the beaver, and gave
the rest to the Indians. The otter is a favourite food, though
much inferior, at least in our estimation, to the dog, which
they will not eat. The horse too is seldom eaten, and never
except when absolute necessity compels them to eat it, as
the only alternative to prevent their dying of hunger. This
fastidiousness does not, however, seem to proceed so much
from any dislike to the food, as from attachment to the animal
itself, for many of them eat very heartily of the horse-beef
which we give them. At an early hour in the morning,

Thursday, May 1, 1805, we collected our horses, and after
breakfast set out about seven o'clock, and followed the
road up the creek. The low grounds and plains presented
the same appearance as that of yesterday, except
that the latter were less sandy. At the distance of nine
miles, the Chopunnish Indian, who was in front, pointed out
an old unbeaten road to the left, which he informed us was
our shortest route. Before venturing, however, to quit our
present road, which was level, and not only led us in the
proper direction, but was well supplied with wood and water,
we halted to let our horses graze till the arrival of our
other guide, who happened to be at some distance behind.
On coming up he seemed much displeased with the other Indian,
and declared that the road we were pursuing was the
proper one; that if we decided on taking the left road, it
would be necessary to remain till to-morrow morning, and
then make an entire day's march before we could reach either
water or wood. To this the Chopunnish assented, but declared
that he himself meant to pursue that route, and we
therefore gave him some powder and lead which he requested.

Four hunters whom we had sent out in the morning,
joined us while we halted, and brought us a beaver for dinner.
We then took our leave of the Chopunnish at one
o'clock, and pursued our route up the creek, through a
country similar to that we had passed in the morning. But
at the distance of three miles, the hills on the north side became
lower, and the bottoms of the creek widened into a
pleasant country, two or three miles in extent. The timber
too, is now more abundant, and our guide tells us that we
shall not want either wood or game from this place as far

as the Kooskooskee. We have already seen a number of
deer, of which we killed one, and observed great quantities
of the curlew, as well as some cranes, ducks, prairie larks,
and several species of sparrow, common to the prairies.
There is, in fact, very little difference in the general face
of the country here from that of the plains on the Missouri,
except that the latter are enlivened by vast herds of buffaloe,
elk and other animals, which give it an additional interest.
Over these wide bottoms we continued on a course
north, 75° east, till, at the distance of seventeen miles from
where we dined, and twenty-six from our last encampment,
we halted for the night. We had scarcely encamped, when
three young men came up from the Wollawollah village,
with a steel trap, which had been left behind inadvertently,
and which they had come a whole day's journey in order to
restore. This act of integrity was the more pleasing, because,
though very rare among Indians, it corresponds perfectly
with the general behaviour of the Wollawollahs,
among whom we had lost carelessly several knives, which
were always returned as soon as found. We may, indeed,
justly affirm, that of all the Indians whom we have met since
leaving the United States, the Wollawollahs were the most
hospitable, honest and sincere.