"We Halted Above The Point Of Junction, On The Kimooenim, To Confer
With The Indians, Who Had Collected In Great
Numbers to receive us.
On landing we were met by our two chiefs, to whose good offices we
were indebted
For this reception, and also the two Indians who had
passed us a few days since on horseback; one of whom appeared
to be a man of influence, and harangued the Indians on our arrival.
After smoking with the Indians, we formed a camp at the point
where the two rivers unite, near to which we found some driftwood,
and were supplied by our two old chiefs with the stalks of willows
and some small bushes for fuel.
"We had scarcely fixed the camp and got the fires prepared,
when a chief came from the Indian camp about a quarter of a mile
up the Columbia, at the head of nearly two hundred men.
They formed a regular procession, keeping time to the music,
or, rather, noise of their drums, which they accompanied
with their voices; and as they advanced, they ranged themselves
in a semicircle around us, and continued singing for some time.
We then smoked with them all, and communicated, as well as we
could by signs, our friendly intentions towards every nation,
and our joy at finding ourselves surrounded by our children.
After this we proceeded to distribute presents among them,
giving the principal chief a large medal, a shirt, and a handkerchief;
to the second chief, a medal of a smaller size; and to a third,
who had come down from some of the upper villages, a small
medal and a handkerchief. This ceremony being concluded,
they left us; but in the course of the afternoon several
of them returned, and remained with us till a late hour.
After they had dispersed, we proceeded to purchase provisions,
and were enabled to collect seven dogs, to which some of the Indians
added small presents of fish, and one of them gave us twenty
pounds of fat dried horse-flesh."
The explorers were still in the country which is now the State of Washington,
at a point where the counties of Franklin, Yakima, and Walla Walla
come together, at the junction of the Snake and the Columbia. We quote
now from the journal: -
"From the point of junction the country is a continued plain, low near
the water, from which it rises gradually, and the only elevation to be seen
is a range of high country running from northeast to southwest, where it
joins a range of mountains from the southwest, and is on the opposite
side about two miles from the Columbia. There is on this plain no tree,
and scarcely any shrubs, except a few willow-bushes; even of smaller plants
there is not much more than the prickly-pear, which is in great abundance,
and is even more thorny and troublesome than any we have yet seen.
During this time the principal chief came down with several of his warriors,
and smoked with us.
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