The Flag Which We
Had Brought In Case Of Any Such Accident Was Therefore Displayed,
And We Continued Slowly Our March Toward Them.
Their whole attention
was so engaged by Drewyer that they did not immediately discover us.
As soon as they
Did see us, they appeared to be much alarmed
and ran about in confusion; some of them came down the hill
and drove their horses within gunshot of the eminence,
to which they then returned, as if to await our arrival.
When we came within a quarter of a mile, one of the Indians
mounted and rode at full speed to receive us; but when within
a hundred paces of us, he halted. Captain Lewis, who had alighted
to receive him, held out his hand and beckoned to him to approach;
he only looked at us for some time, and then, without saying a word,
returned to his companions with as much baste as be had advanced.
The whole party now descended the hill and rode toward us.
As yet we saw only eight, but presumed that there must
be more behind us, as there were several horses saddled.
We however advanced, and Captain Lewis now told his two men
that he believed these were the Minnetarees of Fort de Prairie,
who, from their infamous character, would in all probability
attempt to rob us; but being determined to die rather than
lose his papers and instruments, he intended to resist to
the last extremity, and advised them to do the same, and to be
on the alert should there be any disposition to attack us.
When the two parties came within a hundred yards of each other,
all the Indians, except one, halted. Captain Lewis therefore
ordered his two men to halt while be advanced, and after shaking
hands with the Indian, went on and did the same with the others
in the rear, while the Indian himself shook hands with the two men.
They all now came up; and after alighting, the Indians asked
to smoke with us. Captain Lewis, who was very anxious for
Drewyer's safety, told them that the man who had gone down
the river had the pipe, and requested that as they had seen him,
one of them would accompany R. Fields, to bring him back.
To this they assented, and Fields went with a young man
in search of Drewyer."
Captain Lewis now asked them by signs if they were Minnetarees of the north,
and he was sorry to be told in reply that they were; he knew them to be
a bad lot. When asked if they had any chief among them, they pointed
out three. The captain did not believe them, but, in order to keep on good
terms with them, he gave to one a flag, to another a medal, and to the third
a handkerchief. At Captain Lewis' suggestion, the Indians and the white
men camped together, and in the course of the evening the red men told
the captain that they were part of a big band of their tribe, or nation.
The rest of the tribe, they said, were hunting further up the river,
and were then in camp near the foot of the Rocky Mountains.
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