They were the first white men these Indians had ever seen. They looked the men over carefully and took a deep interest in their clothing, their food, and in their guns.
Explorers suffer from hunger and cold
The mountains were now rough and barren and the streams ran through deep gorges. The explorers took an old Indian guide and crossed the Bitter Root Mountains into a valley of the same name. They followed an Indian trail over the mountains again and into the Clearwater. They suffered for want of food and on account of the cold. When they reached a tribe of the Nez Percé (Pierced Nose) Indians they ate so much they were all ill.
Reach the Columbia River
121. On Waters Flowing into the Pacific. In five log boats, which they had dug out of trees, they glided down the Clearwater to where it meets the Snake River. They camped near the spot where now stands the present town of Lewiston, Idaho. Then they embarked on the Snake River and floated down to where it joins the mighty Columbia.
They were among the Indians again, who had plenty of dried fish, for here is the home of the salmon, a fish found in astonishing numbers. The men had never seen so many fish before.
Explorers reach the Pacific
The number of Indians increased as they went toward the Pacific. Finally the party of explorers passed through the Cascade Mountains and were once more on the smooth current of the Columbia. They soon beheld the blue waters of the Pacific.
During their five months' stay on the Pacific, Captain Clark made a map of the region they had gone through. They repaired their guns and made clothes of the skins of elk and of other game.
Lewis and Clark travel different routes