A Piece Of A Robe And A Moccasin," Says The Journal,
"Were Discovered This Morning Not Far From The Camp.
The moccasin was worn out in the sole, and yet wet, and had
every appearance of having been left but
A few hours before.
This was conclusive that the Indians had taken our horses, and were
still prowling about for the remainder, which fortunately escaped
last night by being in a small prairie surrounded by thick timber.
At length Labiche, one of our best trackers, returned from a
very wide circuit, and informed Captain Clark that he had traced
the horses bending their course rather down the river towards
the open plains, and from their tracks, must have been going
very rapidly. All hopes of recovering them were now abandoned.
Nor were the Indians the only plunderers around our camp;
for in the night the wolves or dogs stole the greater part of
the dried meat from the scaffold. The wolves, which constantly
attend the buffalo, were here in great numbers, as this seemed
to be the commencement of the buffalo country. . . .
"At noon the two canoes were finished. They were twenty-eight
feet long, sixteen or eighteen inches deep, and from sixteen
to twenty-four inches wide; and, having lashed them together,
everything was ready for setting out the next day, Gibson having
now recovered. Sergeant Pryor was directed, with Shannon
and Windsor, to take the remaining horses to the Mandans,
and if he should find that Mr. Henry [a trading-post agent] was
on the Assiniboin River, to go thither and deliver him a letter,
the object of which was to prevail on the most distinguished
chiefs of the Sioux to accompany him to Washington."
On a large island near the mouth of a creek now known as
Canyon Creek, the party landed to explore an extensive Indian
lodge which seems to have been built for councils, rather than
for a place of residence. The lodge was shaped like a cone,
sixty feet in diameter at the base and tapering towards the top.
The poles of which it was constructed were forty-five feet long.
The interior was strangely decorated, the tops of the poles being
ornamented with eagles' feathers, and from the centre hung a stuffed
buffalo-hide. A buffalo's head and other trophies of the chase
were disposed about the wigwam. The valley, as the explorers
descended the river, was very picturesque and wonderful.
On the north side the cliffs were wild and romantic, and these
were soon succeeded by rugged hills, and these, in turn, by open
plains on which were descried herds of buffalo, elk, and wolves.
On the twenty-seventh of July, having reached the Bighorn,
one of the largest tributaries of the Yellowstone, the party
have this entry in their journal: -
"They again set out very early, and on leaving the Bighorn took
a last look at the Rocky Mountains, which had been constantly
in view from the first of May. The [Yellowstone] river now
widens to the extent of from four hundred to six hundred yards;
it is much divided by islands and sandbars; its banks are
generally low and falling in; it thus resembles the Missouri
in many particulars, but its islands are more numerous,
its waters less muddy, and the current is more rapid.
The water is of a yellowish-white, and the round stones,
which form the bars above the Bighorn, have given place to gravel.
On the left side the river runs under cliffs of light,
soft, gritty stone, varying in height from seventy to one
hundred feet, behind which are level and extensive plains.
On the right side of the river are low extensive bottoms,
bordered with cottonwood, various species of willow,
rose-bushes, grapevines, redberry or buffalo-grease bushes,
and a species of sumach; to these succeed high grounds
supplied with pine, and still further on are level plains.
Throughout the country are vast quantities of buffalo, which,
as this is the running-season, keep up a continued bellowing.
Large herds of elk also are lying on every point, so gentle that they
may be approached within twenty paces without being alarmed.
Several beaver were seen in the course of the day; indeed, there is
a greater appearance of those animals than there was above
the Bighorn.
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