William Clark

“ Children Your great father has detected me to tell you not to suffer your young and thoughtless men to take the horses or property of your neighbours or the white people, but to trade with them fairly and honestly, as those of his red children below. ”

“ I saw immence quantities of buffaloe in every direction, also some Elk deer and goats; having an abundance of meat on hand I passed them without firing on them; they are extreemly gentle the bull buffaloe particularly will scarcely give way to you. I passed several in the open plain within fifty paces, they viewed me for a moment as something novel and then very unconcernedly continued to feed. Capt. Clark walked on shore this evening and did not rejoin us untill after dark, he struck the river several miles above our camp and came down to us. ”

“ Set out this morning at an early hour, the courant strong; and river very crooked; the banks are falling in very fast; I sometimes wonder that some of our canoes or perogues are not swallowed up by means of these immence masses of earth which are eternally precipitating themselves into the river; we have had many hair breadth escapes from them but providence seems so to have ordered it that we have as yet sustained no loss in consequence of them. The wind blue very hard the forepart of last night but abated toward morning ”

“ The persons who usually visit the entrance of this river for the purpose of traffic or hunting I believe are either English or Americans; the Indians inform us that they speak the same language with ourselves, and give us proofs of their varacity by repeating many words of English, as musquit, powder, shot, nife, file, damned rascal, sun of a bitch &c. whether these traders are from Nootka sound, from some other late establishment on this coast, or immediately from the U States or Great Brittain, I am at a loss to determine, nor can the Indians inform us. ”

“ The rat in the Rocky mountain on it's West side are like those on the upper part of the Missouri in and near those mountains and have the distinguishing trait of possessing a tail covered with hair like other parts of the body; one of those we caught at the White bear Islands in the beginning of July last and was then discribed. I have seen the nests of those in this neighbourhood but not the animal. I think it most probable that they are like those of the Atlantic states or at least the native rat of our country which have no hair on the tail. ”

“ The water in the Course of time acecending from those hills and plains on either Side of the river has trickled down the Soft Sand Clifts and woarn it into a thousand grotesque figures; which with the help of a little imagination and an oblique view at a distance are made to represent elegant ranges of lofty freestone buildings, haveing their parapets well Stocked with Statuary ”

“ I have not seen more than three or four of those birds during my voyage from the entrance of the Missouri to the mouth of Maria's river and those few were reather the inhabitants of streams of clerer water which discharged themselves into the Missouri than of that river, as they were seen about the entrances of such streams. Musquetoes extreemly troublesome to me today nor is a large black knat less troublesome, which dose not sting, but attacks the eye in swarms and compells us to brush them off or have our eyes filled with them. ”

“ I fear every day that we shall meet with some considerable falls or obstruction in the river notwithstanding the information of the Indian woman to the contrary who assures us that the river continues much as we see it. ”

“ The tide at every floot tide Came with great swells brakeing against the rocks & Drift trees with great fury The rain Continue all day. nothing to eate but pounded fish which we Keep as a reserve and use in Situations of this kind. ”

“ I think it may be established as a general maxim that those nations treat their old people and women with most defference and respect where they Subsist principally on Such articles that these can participate with the men in obtaining them; and that, that part of the Community are treated with least attention, when the act of precureing subsistance devolves intirely on the men in the vigor of life. ”

“ I knew that if these people left me that they would immediately disperse and secrete themselves in the mountains where it would be impossible to find them or at least in vain to pursue them and that they would spread the allarm to all other bands within our reach & of course we should be disappointed in obtaining horses, which would vastly retard and increase the labour of our voyage and I feared might so discourage the men as to defeat the expedition altogether. ”

“ Calculating by thus acquireing a large Stock of horses we shall not only Secure the means of transporting our baggage over the Mountains, but that we also have provided the means of Subsisting; for we now view the horses as our only Certain resource for food, nor do we look foward to it with any detestation or horrow, So Soon is the Mind which is occupied with any interesting object, reconsiled to it's Situation. The men who went in quest of the Elk and Deer which were killed yesterday returned at 8 A.M. this morning. ”

“ Hohastillpilp and all the natives left us about noon and informed us that they were going up the river some distance to a place at which they expected to fine a canoe, we gave them the head and neck of a bear, a part of which they eat and took the ballance with them. these people sometimes kill the variagated bear when they can get them in the open plain where they can pursue them on horseback and shoot them with their arrows. the black bear they more frequently kill as they are less ferocious. our sick men are much better today. ”

“ It appears to me that nature has been much more deficient in her filial tie than in any other of the strong affections of the human heart, and therefore think, our old men equally with our women indebted to civilization for their ease and comfort. Among the Siouxs, Assinniboins and others on the Missouri who subsist by hunting it is a custom when a person of either sex becomes so old and infurm that they are unable to travel on foot from camp to camp as they rome in surch of subsistance, for the children or near relations of such person to leave them without compunction or remose ”

“ I grew sleepy and retired to rest leaving the men to amuse themselves with the Indians. I observe no essential difference between the music and manner of dancing among this nation and those of the Missouri. ”

“ Sunday July 20th 1806 We set at sunrise and proceed through the open plain as yesterday up the North side of the river. the plains are more broken than they were yesterday and have become more inferior in point of soil; a great quanty of small gravel is every where distributed over the surface of the earth which renders travling extreemly painfull to our bearfoot horses. ”

“ There is a large river which falls into the Columbia on its South Side at what point we could not lern; which passes thro those extencive Columbian Plains from the South East, and as the Indians inform us head in the mountains South of the head of Jeffersons River and at no great distance from the Spanish Settlements, and that that fork which heads with the River Rajhone and waters of the Missouri passes through those extensive plains in which there is no wood, and the river Crowded with rapids & falls many of which are impassable. ”

“ I have no doubt the smoke of the tobacco in this manner becomes much more intoxicating and that they do possess themselves of all it's virtues in their fullest extent; they freequently give us sounding proofs of it's creating a dismorallity of order in the abdomen, nor are those light matters thought indelicate in either sex, but all take the liberty of obeying the dictates of nature without reserve. these people do not appear to know the uce of sperituous liquors, they never having once asked us for it ”

“ Sewelel is the Chinnook and Clatsop name for a small animal found in the timbered country on this coast. it is more abundant in the neighbourhood of the great falls and rapids of the Columbia than immediately on the coast. the natives make great use of the skins of this animal in forming their robes, which they dress with the fur on them and attatch together with sinews of the Elk or deer. I have never seen the animal and can therefore discribe it only from the skin and a slight view which some of our hunters have obtained of the living animal. ”

“ 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 continue their hunt; meat has now become scarce with us. ”

“ The crown of the head from the beak back to the neck, the back of the neck imbracing reather more than half the circumpherence of the neck, the back and tale, are of bluish dark brown; the two outer feathers of the tale have a little dash of white near their tips not percemtible when the tail is foalded. a fine black forms the ground of the wings; two stripes of the same colour pass on either side of the head from the base of the beak along the side of the head to it's junction with the neck, and imbraces the eye to it's upper edge ”

“ I cannot conceive how the engages ever assimilated this animal with the buffaloe for there is not greater analogy than between the horse and the frog. this animal is found in greatest numbers in the sandy open parts of the plains, and appear in great abundance after a shower of rain; they are sometimes found basking in the sunshine but conceal themselves in little holes in the earth much the greater preportion of their time. ”

“ Great numbers of Indians visit us both from above and below—-one of the old Chiefs who had accompanied us from the head of the river, informed us that he herd the Indians Say that the nation below intended to kill us, we examined all the arms &c. complete the amunition to 100 rounds. The nativs leave us earlyer this evening than usial, which gives a Shadow of Confirmation to the information of our Old Chief, as we are at all times & places on our guard, are under no greater apprehention than is common. ”

“ The wind blew violently all day. The growth of the neighbourhood what little there is consists of the broad and narrow leafed cottonwood, box alder, the large or sweet willow, the narrow and broad leafed willow. the sweet willow has not been common to the Missouri below this or the entrance of Maria's river; here attains to the same size and in appearance much the same as in the Atlantic States. the undergrowth consists of rosebushes, goosberry and current bushes, honeysuckle small, and the red wood, the inner bark of which the engages are fond of smoking mixed with tobacco. ”

“ The nations of this neighbourhood or those recapitulated above, wear their hair loosly flowing on the back and sholders; both men and women divide it on the center of the crown in front and throw it back behind the ear on each side. they are fond of combs and use them when they can obtain them; and even without the aid of the comb keep their hair in better order than many nations who are in other rispects much more civilized than themselves.—the large or apparently swolen legs particularly observable in the women are obtained in a great measure by tying a cord tight around the ankle. ”

“ Sergt. Pryor informed me that it was shoe deep this morning when he came down. it is somewhat astonishing that the grass and a variety of plants which are now from a foot to 18 inches high on these plains sustain no injury from the snow or frost; many of those plants are in blume and appear to be of a tender susceptable texture. we have been visited by no indians today, and occurrence which has not taken place before since we left the Narrows of the Columbia.—I am pleased at finding the river rise so rapidly, it now doubt is attributeable to the meting snows of the mountains ”