There He Will Build Canoes,
Go Down That River With Seven Of His Party, And Wait At Its Mouth Till
The Rest Of The Party Join Him.
Sergeant Pryor, with two others,
will then take the horses by land to the Mandans.
From that nation
he will go to the British posts on the Assiniboin with a letter
to Mr. Alexander Henry, to procure his endeavors to prevail on some
of the Sioux chiefs to accompany him to the city of Washington.
. . . . . . . . .
The Indians who had accompanied us intended leaving us in order
to seek their friends, the Ootlashoots; but we prevailed on them
to accompany Captain Lewis a part of his route, so as to show him
the shortest road to the Missouri, and in the mean time amused
them with conversation and running races, on foot and with horses,
in both of which they proved themselves hardy, athletic, and active.
To the chief Captain Lewis gave a small medal and a gun,
as a reward for having guided us across the mountains; in return
the customary civility of exchanging names passed between them,
by which the former acquired the title of Yomekollick,
of White Bearskin Unfolded."
Chapter XXIV
The Expedition Subdivided
On the third of July, accordingly, Captain Lewis, with nine of his men
and five Indians, proceeded down the valley lying between the Rocky and
the Bitter Root ranges of mountains, his general course being due northwest
of Clark's fork of the Columbia River. Crossing several small streams that
make into this river, they finally reached and crossed the Missoula River from
west to east, below the confluence of the St. Mary's and Hell-gate rivers,
or creeks; for these streams hardly deserve the name of rivers.
The party camped for the night within a few miles of the site of the present
city of Missoula, Montana. Here they were forced to part from their good
friends and allies, the Indians, who had crossed the range with them.
These men were afraid that they would be cut off by their foes, the Pahkees,
and they wanted to find and join some band of the Indian nation with whom they
were on terms of friendship. The journal gives this account of the parting: -
"We now smoked a farewell pipe with our estimable companions,
who expressed every emotion of regret at parting with us;
which they felt the more, because they did not conceal their
fears of our being cut off by the Pahkees. We also gave them
a shirt, a handkerchief, and a small quantity of ammunition.
The meat which they received from us was dried and left
at this place, as a store during the homeward journey.
This circumstance confirms our belief that there is no route
along Clark's River to the Columbian plains so near or so good
as that by which we came; for, though these people mean to go
for several days' journey down that river, to look for the
Shalees [Ootlashoots], yet they intend returning home by the same
pass of the mountains through which they have conducted us.
This route is also used by all the nations whom we know west
of the mountains who are in the habit of visiting the plains
of the Missouri; while on the other side, all the war-paths
of the Pahkees which fall into this valley of Clark's River
concentre at Traveller's-rest, beyond which these people have
never ventured to the west."
During the next day or two, Captain Lewis kept on the same
general course through a well-watered country, the ground
gradually rising as be approached the base of the mountains.
Tracks of Indians, supposed to be Pahkees, became more
numerous and fresh.
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