Here They Observed The Tracks Of Two Barefooted
Indians Who Had Evidently Been Fleeing From Their Enemies,
The Pahkees.
These signs disturbed the Indian guides,
for they at once said that the tracks were made by their friends,
The Ootlashoots, and that the Pahkees would also cut them
(the guides) off on their return from the trip over the mountains.
On the evening of the day above mentioned, the party camped at
the warm springs which fall into Traveller's-rest Creek, a point
now well known to the explorers, who had passed that way before.
Of the springs the journal says: -
"These warm springs are situated at the foot of a hill on the north
side of Traveller's-rest Creek, which is ten yards wide at this place.
They issue from the bottoms, and through the interstices of a gray
freestone rock, which rises in irregular masses round their lower side.
The principal spring, which the Indians have formed into a bath by
stopping the run with stone and pebbles, is about the same temperature
as the warmest bath used at the hot springs in Virginia. On trying,
Captain Lewis could with difficulty remain in it nineteen minutes,
and then was affected with a profuse perspiration.
The two other springs are much hotter, the temperature being equal
to that of the warmest of the hot springs in Virginia. Our men,
as well as the Indians, amused themselves with going into the bath;
the latter, according to their universal custom, going first into
the hot bath, where they remain as long as they can bear the heat,
then plunging into the creek, which is now of an icy coldness,
and repeating this operation several times, but always ending
with the warm bath."
Traveller's-rest Creek, it will be recollected, is on the summit
of the Bitter Root Mountains, and the expedition had consequently
passed from Idaho into Montana, as these States now exist on the map;
but they were still on the Pacific side of the Great Divide,
or the backbone of the continent. Much game was seen in this region,
and after reaching Traveller's-rest Creek, the hunters killed six deer;
great numbers of elk and bighorn were also seen in this vicinity.
On the thirtieth of July the party were at their old camp of September
9 and 10, 1805, having made one hundred and fifty-six miles from
Quamash flats to the mouth of the creek where they now camped.
Here a plan to divide and subdivide the party was made out as follows: -
"Captain Lewis, with nine men, is to pursue the most direct
route to the falls of the Missouri, where three of his party
[Thompson, Goodrich, and McNeal] are to be left to prepare carriages
for transporting the baggage and canoes across the portage.
With the remaining six, he will ascend Maria's River to explore
the country and ascertain whether any branch of it reaches as far north
as latitude 50'0, after which he will descend that river to its mouth.
The rest of the men will accompany Captain Clark to the head
of Jefferson River, which Sergeant Ordway and a party of nine men
will descend, with the canoes and other articles deposited there.
Captain Clark's party, which will then be reduced to ten men
and Sacajawea, will proceed to the Yellowstone, at its nearest approach
to the Three Forks of the Missouri.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 170 of 201
Words from 93189 to 93757
of 110166
