He Immediately Withdrew,
Apparently Much Mortified, And We Continued Our Repast Of Dog Very Quietly.
Here We Met Our Old
Chopunnish guide, with his family; and soon afterward
one of our horses, which had been separated from the rest in
Charge
of Twisted-hair, and had been in this neighborhood for several weeks,
was caught and restored to us."
Later in that day the party came to a Chopunnish house which was
one hundred and fifty-six feet long and fifteen feet wide.
Thirty families were living in this big house, each family
having its fire by itself burning on the earthen floor,
along through the middle of the great structure.
The journal says: -
"We arrived very hungry and weary, but could not purchase any provisions,
except a small quantity of the roots and bread of the cows.
They had, however, heard of our medical skill, and made many applications
for assistance, but we refused to do anything unless they gave us
either dogs or horses to eat. We soon had nearly fifty patients.
A chief brought his wife with an abscess on her back, and promised
to furnish us with a horse to-morrow if we would relieve her.
Captain Clark, therefore, opened the abscess, introduced a tent,
and dressed it with basilicon. We also prepared and distributed some doses
of flour of sulphur and cream of tartar, with directions for its use.
For these we obtained several dogs, but too poor for use,
and therefore postponed our medical operations till the morning.
In the mean time a number of Indians, besides the residents of the village,
gathered about us or camped in the woody bottom of the creek."
It will be recollected that when the expedition was in this region (on the
Kooskooskee), during the previous September, on their way westward, they left
their horses with Chief Twisted-hair, travelling overland from that point.
They were now looking for that chief, and the journal says: -
"About two o'clock we collected our horses and set out,
accompanied by Weahkoonut, with ten or twelve men and a man
who said he was the brother of Twisted-hair. At four miles
we came to a single house of three families, but could not
procure provisions of any kind; and five miles further we
halted for the night near another house, built like the rest,
of sticks, mats, and dried hay, and containing six families.
It was now so difficult to procure anything to eat that our
chief dependence was on the horse which we received yesterday
for medicine; but to our great disappointment he broke the rope
by which be was confined, made his escape, and left us supperless
in the rain."
Next day they met an Indian who brought them two canisters of powder,
which they at once knew to be some of that which they had buried last autumn.
The Indian said that his dog had dug it up in the meadow by the river,
and he had restored it to its rightful owners. As a reward for his honesty,
the captains gave him a flint and steel for striking fire; and they regretted
that their own poverty prevented them from being more liberal to the man.
They observed that the Rocky Mountains, now in full sight,
were still covered with snow, and the prospect of crossing them
was not very rosy. Their Chopunnish guide told them that it would
be impossible to cross the mountains before the next full moon,
which would be about the first of June. The journal adds:
"To us, who are desirous of reaching the plains of the Missouri -
if for no other reason, for the purpose of enjoying a good meal -
this intelligence was by no means welcome, and gave no relish
to the remainder of the horse killed at Colter's Creek, which formed
our supper, as part of which had already been our dinner."
Next day, accordingly, the hunters turned out early in the morning,
and before noon returned with four deer and a duck, which,
with the remains of horse-beef on hand, gave them a much more
plentiful stock of provisions than had lately fallen to their lot.
During the previous winter, they were told, the Indians suffered
very much for lack of food, game of all sorts being scarce.
They were forced to boil and eat the moss growing on the trees,
and they cut down the pine-trees for the sake of the small nut
to be found in the pine-cones. Here they were met by an old friend,
Neeshnepahkeeook and the Shoshonee, who had acted as interpreter
for them. The journal says: -
"We gave Neeshnepahkeeook and his people some of our game and horse-beef,
besides the entrails of the deer, and four fawns which we found
inside of two of them. They did not eat any of them perfectly raw,
but the entrails had very little cooking; the fawns were boiled whole,
and the hide, hair, and entrails all consumed. The Shoshonee was offended
at not having as much venison as he wished, and refused to interpret;
but as we took no notice of him, he became very officious in the course
of a few hours, and made many efforts to reinstate himself in our favor.
The brother of Twisted-hair, and Neeshnepahkeeook, now drew a sketch,
which we preserved, of all the waters west of the Rocky Mountains."
They now met Twisted-hair, in whose care they had left their
horses and saddles the previous fall, and this was the result
of their inquiries: -
"Between three and four o'clock in the afternoon we set out,
in company with Neeshuepahkeeook and other Indians, the brother
of Twisted-hair having left us. Our route was up a high steep
hill to a level plain with little wood, through which we
passed in a direction parallel to the [Kooskooskee] River
for four miles, when we met Twisted-hair and six of his people.
To this chief we had confided our horses and a part of our
saddles last autumn, and we therefore formed very unfavorable
conjectures on finding that he received us with great coldness.
Shortly afterward he began to speak in a very loud, angry manner,
and was answered by Neeshnepahkeeook.
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