Basilicon, Of Which
Mention Is Frequently Made In The Journal, Was An Ointment Composed
Of Black Pitch, White Wax, Resin,
And olive oil; it was esteemed as a
sovereign remedy for all diseases requiring an outward application.
With these valuables
Two men were sent out to trade with the Indians,
on the second day of June, and they returned with three bushels
of eatable roots and some cowas bread. Later in that day,
a party that had been sent down the river (Lewis') in quest of food,
returned with a goodly supply of roots and seventeen salmon.
These fish, although partly spoiled by the long journey home,
gave great satisfaction to the hungry adventurers, for they were
the promise of a plenty to come when the salmon should ascend
the rivers that make into the Columbia. At this time we find
the following interesting story in the journal of the expedition: -
"We had lately heard, also, that some Indians, residing at
a considerable distance, on the south side of the Kooskooskee,
were in possession of two tomahawks, one of which had been left
at our camp on Moscheto Creek, and the other had been stolen
while we were with the Chopunnish in the autumn. This last we
were anxious to obtain, in order to give it to the relations of our
unfortunate companion, Sergeant Floyd,[1] to whom it once belonged.
We therefore sent Drewyer, with the two chiefs Neeshnepahkeeook
and Hohastillpilp (who had returned to us) to demand it.
On their arrival, they found that the present possessor
of it, who had purchased it of the thief, was at the point
of death; and his relations were unwilling to give it up,
as they wished to bury it in the grave with the deceased.
The influence of Neeshnepahkeeook, however, at length prevailed;
and they consented to surrender the tomahawk on receiving two
strands of beads and a handkerchief from Drewyer, and from each
of the chiefs a horse, to be killed at the funeral of their kinsman,
according to the custom of the country."
[1] See page 23.
The Chopunnish chiefs now gave their final answer to the two
captains who had requested guides from them. The chiefs said
that they could not accompany the party, but later in the summer
they might cross the great divide and spend the next winter
on the headwaters of the Missouri. At present, they could only
promise that some of their young men should go with the whites;
these had not been selected, but they would be sent on after
the party, if the two captains insisted on starting now.
This was not very encouraging, for they had depended upon
the Indians for guidance over the exceedingly difficult and
even dangerous passages of the mountains. Accordingly, it was
resolved that, while waiting on the motions of the Indians,
the party might as well make a visit to Quamash flats, where they
could lay in a stock of provisions for their arduous journey.
It is not certain which of the several Quamash flats mentioned
in the history of the expedition is here referred to;
but it is likely that the open glade in which Captain Clark
first struck the low country of the west is here meant.
It was here that he met the Indian boys hiding in the grass,
and from here he led the expedition out of the wilderness.
For "quamash" read "camass," an edible root much prized
by the Nez Perces then and now.
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