Pass or spot much frequented by game, and sally out in a
body against any animal which they think they can overpower;
but on the slightest alarm retreat to their burrows, making a noise
exactly like that of a small dog.
"A second species is lower, shorter in the legs, and thicker than the
Atlantic wolf; the color, which is not affected by the seasons, is of every
variety of shade, from a gray or blackish-brown to a cream-colored white.
They do not burrow, nor do they bark, but howl; they frequent the woods
and plains, and skulk along the skirts of the buffalo herds, in order
to attack the weary or wounded."
Under date of May 5, the journal has an interesting story of an encounter
with a grizzly bear, which, by way of variety, is here called "brown,"
instead of "white." It is noticeable that the explorers dwelt with
much minuteness upon the peculiar characteristics of the grizzly;
this is natural enough when we consider that they were the first
white men to form an intimate acquaintance with "Ursus horribilis."
The account says: -
"Captain Clark and one of the hunters met, this evening, the largest
brown bear we have seen. As they fired he did not attempt to attack,
but fled with a most tremendous roar; and such was his extraordinary
tenacity of life, that, although he had five balls passed
through his lungs, and five other wounds, he swam more than half
across the river to a sand-bar, and survived twenty minutes.
He weighed between five and six hundred pounds at least,
and measured eight feet seven inches and a half from the nose
to the extremity of the hind feet, five feet ten inches and a half
round the breast, three feet eleven inches round the neck, one foot
eleven inches round the middle of the fore leg, and his claws
five on each foot, were four inches and three-eighths in length.
This animal differs from the common black bear in having his
claws much longer and more blunt; his tail shorter; his hair
of a reddish or bay brown, longer, finer, and more abundant;
his liver, lungs, and heart much larger even in proportion to his size,
the heart, particularly, being equal to that of a large ox;
and his maw ten times larger. Besides fish and flesh, he feeds
on roots and every kind of wild fruit."
On May 8 the party discovered the largest and most important of the northern
tributaries of the Upper Missouri. The journal thus describes the stream: -
"Its width at the entrance is one hundred and fifty yards;
on going three miles up, Captain Lewis found it to be of the same
breadth and sometimes more; it is deep, gentle, and has a large
quantity of water; its bed is principally of mud; the banks
are abrupt, about twelve feet in height, and formed of a dark,
rich loam and blue clay; the low grounds near it are wide and fertile,
and possess a considerable proportion of cottonwood and willow.
It seems to be navigable for boats and canoes; by this circumstance,
joined to its course and quantity of water, which indicates that it
passes through a large extent of country, we are led to presume
that it may approach the Saskaskawan [Saskatchewan] and afford
a communication with that river. The water has a peculiar whiteness,
such as might be produced by a tablespoonful of milk in a dish of tea,
and this circumstance induced us to call it Milk River."
Modern geography shows that the surmise of Captain Lewis was correct.
Some of the tributaries of Milk River (the Indian name of which signifies
"The River that Scolds at all Others") have their rise near St. Mary's River,
which is one of the tributaries of the Saskatchewan, in British America.
The explorers were surprised to find the bed of a dry river,
as deep and as wide as the Missouri itself, about fifteen
miles above Milk River. Although it had every appearance
of a water-course, it did not discharge a drop of water.
Their journal says: -
"It passes through a wide valley without timber; the surrounding country
consists of waving low hills, interspersed with some handsome level plains;
the banks are abrupt, and consist of a black or yellow clay, or of a rich
sandy loam; though they do not rise more than six or eight feet above the bed,
they exhibit no appearance of being overflowed; the bed is entirely
composed of a light brown sand, the particles of which, like those of
the Missouri, are extremely fine. Like the dry rivers we passed before,
this seemed to have discharged its waters recently, but the watermark
indicated that its greatest depth had not been more than two feet.
This stream, if it deserve the name, we called Bigdry [Big Dry] River."
And Big Dry it remains on the maps unto this day.
In this region the party recorded this observation: -
"The game is now in great quantities, particularly the elk and buffalo,
which last is so gentle that the men are obliged to drive them out of the way
with sticks and stones. The ravages of the beaver are very apparent;
in one place the timber was entirely prostrated for a space of three acres
in front on the river and one in depth, and great part of it removed,
though the trees were in large quantities, and some of them as thick
as the body of a man.
Yet so great have been the ravages of man among these gentle creatures,
that elk are now very rarely found in the region, and the buffalo
have almost utterly disappeared from the face of the earth.
Just after the opening of the Northern Pacific Railway, in 1883,
a band of sixty buffaloes were heard of, far to the southward
of Bismarck, and a party was organized to hunt them.
The BOLD hunters afterwards boasted that they killed every one
of this little band of survivors of their race.
