"If This Be, As We Suppose, The Musselshell, Our Indian Information
Is That It Rises In The First Chain Of
The Rocky mountains not far
from the sources of the Yellowstone, whence in its course to this
place it waters
A high broken country, well timbered, particularly on
its borders, and interspersed with handsome fertile plains and meadows.
We have reason, however, to believe, from their giving a similar
account of the timber where we now are, that the timber of which they
speak is similar to that which we have seen for a few days past,
which consists of nothing more than a few straggling small pines and dwarf
cedars on the summits of the hills, nine-tenths of the ground being
totally destitute of wood, and covered with short grass, aromatic herbs,
and an immense quantity of prickly-pear; though the party who explored
it for eight miles represented the low grounds on the river to be well
supplied with cottonwood of a tolerable size, and of an excellent soil.
They also report that the country is broken and irregular, like that
near our camp; and that about five miles up, a handsome river,
about fifty yards wide, which we named after Chaboneau's wife,
Sacajawea's or the Bird-woman's River, discharges into the Musselshell
on the north or upper side."
Later explorations have shown that the Musselshell rises
in the Little Belt Mountains, considerably to the north of
the sources of the Yellowstone. Modern geography has also taken
from the good Sacajawea the honor of having her name bestowed
on one of the branches of the Musselshell. The stream once
named for her is now known as Crooked Creek: it joins the river
near its mouth, in the central portion of Montana. The journal,
under date of May 22, has this entry: -
"The river [the Missouri] continues about two hundred and fifty
yards wide, with fewer sand-bars, and the current more gentle
and regular. Game is no longer in such abundance since leaving
the Musselshell. We have caught very few fish on this side of
the Mandans, and these were the white catfish, of two to five pounds.
We killed a deer and a bear. We have not seen in this quarter
the black bear, common in the United States and on the lower parts
of the Missouri, nor have we discerned any of their tracks.
They may easily be distinguished by the shortness of the talons
from the brown, grizzly, or white bear, all of which seem to be
of the same species, which assumes those colors at different seasons
of the year. We halted earlier than usual, and camped on the north,
in a point of woods, at the distance of sixteen and one half miles
[thus past the site of Fort Hawley, on the south]."
Notwithstanding the advance of the season, the weather
in those great altitudes grew more and more cold. Under date
of May 23, the journal records the fact that ice appeared along
the edges of the river, and water froze upon their oars.
But notwithstanding the coolness of the nights and mornings,
mosquitoes were very troublesome.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 44 of 201
Words from 23504 to 24029
of 110166
