Wednesday 10. He accordingly passed over to the opposite side of the river with his party, and proceeded on eight miles by land, the distance by water being twenty-three and three quarter miles. Here he found two cottonwood trees, but on cutting them down, one proved to be hollow, split at the top in falling, and both were much damaged at the bottom. He searched the neighbourhood but could find none which would suit better, and therefore was obliged to make use of those which he had felled, shortening them in order to avoid the cracks, and supplying the deficiency by making them as wide as possible. They were equally at a loss for wood of which they might make handles for their axes, the eyes of which not being round they were obliged to split the timber in such a manner that thirteen of the handles broke in the course of the day, though made of the best wood they could find for the purpose, which was the chokecherry.
The rest of the party took the frame of the boat to pieces, deposited it in a cache or hole, with a draught of the country from fort Mandan to this place, and also some other papers and small articles of less importance. After this we amused ourselves with fishing, and although we had thought on our arrival that there were none in this part of the river, we caught some of a species of white chub below the falls, but few in number, and small in size.
Serjeant Ordway with four canoes and eight men had set sail in the morning, with part of the baggage to the place where captain Clarke had fixed his camp, but the wind was so high that he only reached within three miles of that place, and encamped for the night.
Thursday, July 11. In the morning one of the canoes joined captain Clarke: the other three having on board more valuable articles, which would have been injured by the water, went on more cautiously, and did not reach the camp till the evening. Captain Clarke then had the canoes unloaded and sent back, but the high wind prevented their floating down nearer than about eight miles above us. His party were busily engaged with the canoes, and their hunters supplied them with three fat deer and a buffaloe, in addition to two deer and an antelope killed yesterday. The few men who were with captain Lewis were occupied in hunting, but with not much success, having killed only one buffaloe. They heard about sunset two discharges of the tremendous mountain artillery: they also saw several very large gray eagles, much larger than those of the United States, and most probably a distinct species, though the bald eagle of this country is not quite so large as that of the United States. The men have been much afflicted with painful whitlows, and one of them disabled from working by this complaint in his hand.
Friday, 12. In consequence of the wind the canoes did not reach the lower camp till late in the afternoon, before which time captain Lewis sent all the men he could spare up the river to assist in building the boats, and the day was too far advanced to reload and send them up before morning. The mosquitoes are very troublesome, and they have a companion not less so, a large black gnat which does not sting, but attacks the eyes in swarms. The party with captain Clarke are employed on the canoes: in the course of the work serjeant Pryor dislocated his shoulder yesterday, but it was replaced immediately, and though painful does not threaten much injury. The hunters brought in three deer and two otter. This last animal has been numerous since the water has become sufficiently clear for them to take fish. The blue-crested fisher, or as it is sometimes called, the kingfisher, is an inhabitant of this part of the river; it is a bird rare on the Missouri: indeed we had not seen more than three or four of them from its entrance to Maria's river, and even those did not seem to reside on the Missouri but on some of the clearer streams which empty into it, as they were seen near the mouths of those streams.
Saturday 13. The morning being fair and calm captain Lewis had all the remaining baggage embarked on board the six canoes, which sailed with two men in each for the upper camp. Then with a sick man and the Indian woman, he left the encampment, and crossing over the river went on by land to join captain Clarke. From the head of the Whitebear islands he proceeded in a southwest direction, at the distance of three miles, till he struck the Missouri, which he then followed till he reached the place where all the party were occupied in boat-building. On his way he passed a very large Indian lodge, which was probably designed as a great council-house, but it differs in its construction from all that we have seen lower down the Missouri or elsewhere. The form of it was a circle two hundred and sixteen feet in circumference at the base, and composed of sixteen large cottonwood poles about fifty feet long, and at their thicker ends, which touched the ground, about the size of a man's body: they were distributed at equal distances, except that one was omitted to the east, probably for the entrance. From the circumference of this circle the poles converged towards the centre where they were united and secured by large withes of willow brush. There was no covering over this fabric, in the centre of which were the remains of a large fire, and round it the marks of about eighty leathern lodges. He also saw a number of turtledoves, and some pigeons, of which he shot one differing in no respect from the wild pigeon of the United States. The country exhibits its usual appearances, the timber confined to the river, the country on both sides as far as the eye can reach being entirely destitute of trees or brush. In the low ground in which we are building the canoes, the timber is larger and more abundant than we have seen it on the Missouri for several hundred miles. The soil too is good, for the grass and weeds reach about two feet high, being the tallest we have observed this season, though on the high plains and prairies the grass is at no season above three inches in height. Among these weeds are the sandrush, and nettle in small quantities; the plains are still infested by great numbers of the small birds already mentioned, among whom is the brown curlew. The current of the river is here extremely gentle; the buffaloe have not yet quite gone, for the hunters brought in three in very good order. It requires some diligence to supply us plentifully, for as we reserve our parched meal for the Rocky mountains, where we do not expect to find much game, our principal article of food is meat, and the consumption of the whole thirty-two persons belonging to the party, amounts to four deer, an elk and a deer, one buffaloe every twenty four hours. The musquitoes and gnats persecute us as violently as below, so that we can get no sleep unless defended by biers, with which we are all provided. We here found several plants hitherto unknown to us, and of which we preserved specimens.
Serjeant Ordway proceeded with the six canoes five miles up the river, but the wind becoming so high as to wet the baggage he was obliged to unload and dry it. The wind abated at five o'clock in the evening, when he again proceeded eight miles and encamped. The next morning,
Sunday, July 14, he joined us about noon. On leaving the Whitebear camp he passed at a short distance a little creek or run coming in on the left. This had been already examined and called Flattery run; it contains back water only, with very extensive low grounds, which rising into large plains reach the mountains on the east; then passed a willow island on the left within one mile and a half, and reached two miles further a cliff of rocks in a bend on the same side. In the course of another mile and a half he passed two islands covered with cottonwood, box-alder, sweet-willow, and the usual undergrowth, like that of the Whitebear islands. At thirteen and three quarter miles he came to the mouth of a small creek on the left; within the following nine miles he passed three timbered islands, and after making twenty-three and a quarter miles from the lower camp, arrived at the point of woodland on the north where the canoes were constructed.
The day was fair and warm; the men worked very industriously, and were enabled by the evening to lanch the boats, which now want only seats and oars to be complete. One of them is twenty-five, the other thirty-three feet in length and three feet wide. Captain Lewis walked out between three and four miles over the rocky bluffs to a high situation, two miles from the river, a little below Fort Mountain creek. The country which he saw was in most parts level, but occasionally became varied by gentle rises and descents, but with no timber except along the water. From this position, the point at which the Missouri enters the first chain of the Rocky mountains bore south 28° west about twenty-five miles, according to our estimate.
The northern extremity of that chain north 73° west at the distance of eighty miles.