Nevertheless, The Leaders Of The Expedition Were Determined To Press On
And Pass The Bitter Root Mountains As Soon As A Slight Rest At Quamash Flats
Should Be Had.
If they should tarry until the snows melted from the trail,
they would be too late to reach the
United States that winter and would
be compelled to pass the next winter at some camp high up on the Missouri,
as they had passed one winter at Fort Mandan, on their way out.
This is the course of argument which Captain Lewis and Clark took to persuade
each other as to the best way out of their difficulties: -
"The snows have formed a hard, coarse bed without crust, on which the horses
walk safely without slipping; the chief difficulty, therefore, is to
find the road. In this we may be assisted by the circumstance that,
though generally ten feet in depth, the snow has been thrown off by
the thick and spreading branches of the trees, and from round the trunk;
while the warmth of the trunk itself, acquired by the reflection of the sun,
or communicated by natural heat of the earth, which is never frozen under
these masses, has dissolved the snow so much that immediately at the roots
its depth is not more than one or two feet. We therefore hope that
the marks of the baggage rubbing against the trees may still be perceived;
and we have decided, in case the guide cannot be procured, that one of us will
take three or four of our most expert woodsmen, several of our best horses,
and an ample supply of provisions, go on two days' journey in advance,
and endeavor to trace the route by the marks of the Indian baggage on
the trees, which we would then mark more distinctly with a tomahawk.
When they should have reached two days' journey beyond Hungry Creek,
two of the men were to be sent back to apprise the rest of their success,
and if necessary to cause them to delay there; lest, by advancing too soon,
they should be forced to halt where no food could be obtained for the horses.
If the traces of the baggage be too indistinct, the whole party is to return
to Hungry Creek, and we will then attempt the passage by ascending the main
southwest branch of Lewis' River through the country of the Shoshonees,
over to Madison or Gallatin River.
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