The Altitude
Of The Peak Is Nine Thousand Seven Hundred And Fifty Feet.
"Having Arrived At The Lower Ends Of
The rapids below the bluff
before any of the rest of the party, be sat down on a rock
to
Wait for them, and, seeing a crane fly across the river,
shot it, and it fell near him. Several Indians had been
before this passing on the opposite side towards the rapids,
and some who were then nearly in front of him, being either alarmed
at his appearance or the report of the gun, fled to their houses.
Captain Clark was afraid that these people had not yet heard
that the white men were coming, and therefore, in order to allay
their uneasiness before the rest of the party should arrive, he got
into the small canoe with three men, rowed over towards the houses,
and, while crossing, shot a duck, which fell into the water.
As he approached no person was to be seen except three men
in the plains, and they, too, fled as he came near the shore.
He landed in front of five houses close to each other, but no
one appeared, and the doors, which were of mat, were closed.
He went towards one of them with a pipe in his hand, and,
pushing aside the mat, entered the lodge, where he found
thirty-two persons, chiefly men and women, with a few children,
all in the greatest consternation; some hanging down their heads,
others crying and wringing their hands. He went up to them,
and shook hands with each one in the most friendly manner;
but their apprehensions, which had for a moment subsided,
revived on his taking out a burning-glass, as there was no
roof to the house, and lighting his pipe: he then offered
it to several of the men, and distributed among the women
and children some small trinkets which he had with him,
and gradually restored a degree of tranquillity among them.
"Leaving this house, and directing each of his men to visit a house,
he entered a second. Here he found the inmates more terrified than
those in the first; but he succeeded in pacifying them, and afterward
went into the other houses, where the men had been equally successful.
Retiring from the houses, he seated himself on a rock, and beckoned
to some of the men to come and smoke with him; but none of them
ventured to join him till the canoes arrived with the two chiefs,
who immediately explained our pacific intention towards them.
Soon after the interpreter's wife [Sacajawea] landed, and her
presence dissipated all doubts of our being well-disposed,
since in this country no woman ever accompanies a war party:
they therefore all came out, and seemed perfectly reconciled;
nor could we, indeed, blame them for their terrors, which were
perfectly natural. They told the two chiefs that they knew
we were not men, for they had seen us fall from the clouds.
In fact, unperceived by them, Captain Clark had shot the white crane,
which they had seen fall just before he appeared to their eyes:
the duck which he had killed also fell close by him;
and as there were some clouds flying over at the moment,
they connected the fall of the birds with his sudden appearance,
and believed that he had himself actually dropped from the clouds;
considering the noise of the rifle, which they had never
heard before, the sound announcing so extraordinary an event.
This belief was strengthened, when, on entering the room,
he brought down fire from the heavens by means of his burning-glass.
We soon convinced them, however, that we were merely mortals;
and after one of our chiefs had explained our history and objects,
we all smoked together in great harmony.
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