[200] The Flatbows (Arcs à plats), in the use made of the term by De Smet, signify that branch of the Kutenai stock that is now known as the Lower Kutenai; by “Kootenay” the author designates the Upper branch of the tribal stock. They differ slightly in customs and dialects, as well as in habitat, the Lower Kutenai being partly in the United States; the Upper almost wholly in British Columbia. For a scientific study of this stock see Dr. A. F. Chamberlain in Report of British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1892, pp. 549-614; see also De Smet’s Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 357, note 180.—Ed.
[201] Lake Pend d’Oreille, in northern Idaho; for which see De Smet’s Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 339, note 175.—Ed.
[202] For a brief biographical sketch of Peter Skeen Ogden see Townsend’s Narrative in our volume xxi, p. 314, note 99. For an account of De Smet’s journey with Ogden in 1842, see the former’s Letters in our volume xxvii, pp. 373-377.—Ed.
[203] These officers were Captain Henry J. Warre, nephew and aide-de-camp of Sir R. Downer Jackson, commandant of British forces in North America, and Lieutenant M. Vavasour of the Royal Engineers. They had a commission from the government, perhaps not as extensive as is reported by De Smet, but doubtless ample in case of war. They were also secretly commissioned by the Hudson’s Bay Company to report on Dr. McLoughlin’s attitude in regard to the American settlers, and their adverse account was answered by him in detail, after his resignation (1846). The two officers left Montreal May 5, 1845, reporting at Fort Garry, whence they took the overland route followed by Sir George Simpson in 1841, arriving at Fort Colville August 12, three days after the meeting with De Smet in the Idaho forests. Their appearance at Fort Vancouver nearly coincided with that of the naval officers Park and Peel from the Pacific squadron. Warre and Vavasour examined the country thoroughly, and made estimates of the Indian tribes. See Robert M. Martin, Hudson’s Bay Territories (London, 1849), p. 80. They visited Vancouver Island and Puget Sound, the settlements on the Willamette and the mouth of the Columbia, making drawings and sketches of several places visited. They remained at Fort Vancouver during the winter of 1845-46 assisting at the festivities inaugurated by the officers of the “Modeste” (see Palmer’s Journal in our volume xxx, note 189), and left for England via the spring brigade. They mention meeting Father de Smet seven days from Boat Encampment on the return journey. Arriving in Liverpool August 12, 1846, Captain Warre prepared for the press Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory (London, 1849), a copy of which is in the Portland public library. Captain Warre had been in Canada since 1839; on his return to England he received the thanks of the colonial secretary, Earl Grey, for his arduous services during his journey to the West on “special duty.” Later he commanded the 57th regiment in the Crimean War and in New Zealand, 1861-66, becoming lieutenant general in 1877, and dying in 1898. He is the author of Sketches in the Crimea (London, 1856); he also wrote Historical Records of the 57 regiment of foot (London, 1878.)—Ed.
[204] Doubtless De Smet followed the well-known Indian trail which David Thompson called the “Great Road of the Flatheads,” reaching Kootenai River about on the border between Idaho and Montana, where was built a North West Company house, later abandoned. See Thompson’s description of the road in Elliott Coues (ed.) New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest (New York, 1897), ii, p. 673; also the accompanying map by Thompson.—Ed.
[205] The wappato (sagittaria latifolia) was an important article of food for the Northwest Indians. See descriptions of its gathering and preparation in Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, index. The flower of the bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) has been chosen as the Montana state flower; it gives name both to the river and to a range of mountains in that state. The biscuit root was probably what is known as the white-apple or prairie potato (Psoralea esculenta), a food-root widely spread in North America. See our volume xxi, p. 248, note 62.—Ed.
[206] On the camas see our volume xxi, p. 247, note 61.—Ed.
[207] Evernia vulpina, still used for food by the Kutenai.—Ed.
[208] Kootenai Lake, in eastern British Columbia, is an enlargement of the river of the same name, seventy-five miles in length and with a width of from two to five miles. The river enters at the southern end, and leaves the lake about midway of its length opposite Pilot Bay.—Ed.
[209] Edward Berland, a Hudson’s Bay Company employe, aided Sir George Simpson on his voyage around the world in 1841. See his curious autograph reproduced in Simpson, Narrative, i, p. 125.—Ed.