In The Mean Time,
The Indians, Who Were Always On The Alert, Stole A Tomahawk,
Which We Could Not Recover,
Though several of them were searched;
and another fellow was detected in carrying off a piece of iron,
and kicked
Out of camp; upon which Captain Lewis, addressing them,
told them he was not afraid to fight them, for, if he chose,
he could easily put them all to death, and burn their village,
but that he did not wish to treat them ill if they kept from stealing;
and that, although, if he could discover who had the tomahawks,
he would take away their horses, yet he would rather lose
the property altogether than take the horse of an innocent man.
The chiefs were present at this harangue, hung their heads,
and made no reply.
"At ten o'clock the men returned with the horse, and soon after an Indian,
who had promised to go with us as far as the Chopunnish, came with two horses,
one of which he politely offered to assist in carrying our baggage.
We therefore loaded nine horses, and, giving the tenth to Bratton,
who was still too sick to walk, at about ten o'clock left the village
of these disagreeable people."
At an Indian village which they reached soon after leaving that of the
disagreeable Skilloots, they found the fellow who had gambled away the horse
that he had sold. Being faced with punishment, he agreed to replace
the animal he had stolen with another, and a very good horse was brought
to satisfy the white men, who were now determined to pursue a rigid course
with the thievish Indians among whom they found themselves. These people,
the Eneeshurs, were stingy, inhospitable, and overbearing in their ways.
Nothing but the formidable numbers of the white men saved them from insult,
pillage, and even murder. While they were here, one of the horses
belonging to the party broke loose and ran towards the Indian village.
A buffalo robe attached to him fell off and was gathered in by one of
the Eneeshurs. Captain Lewis, whose patience was now exhausted, set out,
determined to burn the village unless the Indians restored the robe.
Fortunately, however, one of his men found the missing article hidden
in a hut, and so any act of violent reprisal was not necessary.
So scarce had now become fuel, the party were obliged to buy
what little wood they required for their single cooking-fire.
They could not afford a fire to keep them warm, and,
as the nights were cold and they lay without any shelter,
they were most uncomfortable, although the days were warm.
They were now travelling along the Columbia River, using their
horses for a part of their luggage, and towing the canoes
with the remainder of the stuff. On the twenty-third of April
they arrived at the mouth of Rock Creek, on the Columbia,
a considerable stream which they missed as they passed this point
on their way down, October 21. Here they met a company of Indians
called the Wahhowpum, with whom they traded pewter buttons,
strips of tin and twisted wire for roots, dogs, and fuel.
These people were waiting for the arrival of the salmon.
The journal says: -
"After arranging the camp we assembled all the warriors, and having
smoked with them, the violins were produced, and some of the men danced.
This civility was returned by the Indians in a style of dancing,
such as we had not yet seen. The spectators formed a circle
round the dancers, who, with their robes drawn tightly round
the shoulders, and divided into parties of five or six men,
perform by crossing in a line from one side of the circle to the other.
All the parties, performers as well as spectators, sing, and after
proceeding in this way for some time, the spectators join,
and the whole concludes by a promiscuous dance and song.
Having finished, the natives retired at our request, after promising
to barter horses with us in the morning."
They bought three horses of these Indians and hired
three more from a Chopunnish who was to accompany them.
The journal adds: -
"The natives also had promised to take our canoes in exchange for horses;
but when they found that we were resolved on travelling by land they refused
giving us anything, in hopes that we would be forced to leave them.
Disgusted at this conduct, we determined rather to cut them to pieces
than suffer these people to enjoy them, and actually began to split them,
on which they gave us several strands of beads for each canoe.
We had now a sufficient number of horses to carry our baggage,
and therefore proceeded wholly by land."
Next day the party camped near a tribe of Indians known as
the Pishquitpah. These people had never seen white men before, and they
flocked in great numbers around the strangers, but were very civil
and hospitable, although their curiosity was rather embarrassing.
These people were famous hunters, and both men and women were
excellent riders. They were now travelling on the south side
of the river, in Oregon, and, after leaving the Pishquitpahs,
they encountered the "Wollawollahs," as they called them.
These Indians are now known as the Walla Walla tribe,
and their name is given to a river, a town, and a fort of the
United States. In several of the Indian dialects walla means
"running water," and when the word is repeated, it diminishes the size
of the object; so that Walla Walla means "little running water."
Near here the explorers passed the mouth of a river which they
called the Youmalolam; it is a curious example of the difficulty
of rendering Indian names into English. The stream is now known
as the Umatilla. Here they found some old acquaintances of whom
the journal has this account: -
"Soon after we were joined by seven Wollawollahs, among whom we recognized a
chief by the name of Yellept, who had visited us on the nineteenth of October,
when we gave him a medal with the promise of a larger one on our return.
He appeared very much pleased at seeing us again, and invited us to remain
at his village three or four days, during which he would supply us
with the only food they had, and furnish us with horses for our journey.
After the cold, inhospitable treatment we have lately received, this kind
offer was peculiarly acceptable; and after a hasty meal we accompanied him
to his village, six miles above, situated on the edge of the low country,
about twelve miles below the mouth of Lewis' River.
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