In Describing The Dress Of The Chopunnish, Or Nez Perces,
The Journal Says That Tippets, Or Collars, Were Worn By
The men.
"That of Hohastillpilp," says the journal, "was formed of human
scalps and adorned with the thumbs and fingers
Of several men
slain by him in battle." And yet the journal immediately adds:
"The Chopunnish are among the most amiable men we have seen.
Their character is placid and gentle, rarely moved to passion,
yet not often enlivened by gayety." In short, the Indians
were amiable savages; and it is a savage trait to love to
destroy one's enemies.
Here is an entry in the journal of May 19 which will give the reader
some notion of the privations and the pursuits of the party while shut
up in camp for weary weeks in the early summer of 1806: -
"After a cold, rainy night, during a greater part of which we lay
in the water, the weather became fair; we then sent some men to a
village above us, on the opposite side, to purchase some roots.
They carried with them for this purpose a small collection of awls,
knitting-pins, and armbands, with which they obtained several
bushels of the root of cows, and some bread of the same material.
They were followed, too, by a train of invalids from the village,
who came to ask for our assistance. The men were generally afflicted with
sore eyes; but the women had besides this a variety of other disorders,
chiefly rheumatic, a violent pain and weakness in the loins, which is
a common complaint among them; one of them seemed much dejected,
and as we thought, from the account of her disease, hysterical.
We gave her thirty drops of laudanum, and after administering
eye-water, rubbing the rheumatic patients with volatile liniment,
and giving cathartics to others, they all thought themselves
much relieved and returned highly satisfied to the village.
We were fortunate enough to retake one of the horses on which we
[Captain Lewis] had crossed the Rocky Mountains in the autumn,
and which had become almost wild since that time."
A day or two later, the journal has this significant entry:
"On parcelling out the stores, the stock of each man was found
to be only one awl, and one knitting-pin, half an ounce of vermilion,
two needles, a few skeins of thread, and about a yard of ribbon -
a slender means of bartering for our subsistence; but the men have been
so much accustomed to privations that now neither the want of meat nor
the scanty funds of the party excites the least anxiety among them."
To add to their discomfort, there was a great deal of sickness in the camp,
owing to the low diet of the men. Sacajawea's baby was ill with mumps
and teething, and it is suggested that the two captains would have been
obliged to "walk the floor all night," if there had been any floor
to walk on; as it was, they were deprived of their nightly rest.
Here is an example of what the doctors would call heroic treatment
by Captain Clark, who conducted all such experiments: -
"With one of the men [Bratton] we have ventured an experiment
of a very robust nature. He has been for some time sick,
but has now recovered his flesh, eats heartily, and digests well,
but has so great a weakness in the loins that he cannot walk or even
sit upright without extreme pain. After we had in vain exhausted
the resources of our art, one of the hunters mentioned that he had
known persons in similar situations to be restored by violent sweats,
and at the request of the patient, we permitted the remedy to be applied.
For this purpose a hole about four feet deep and three in diameter was
dug in the earth, and heated well by a large fire in the bottom of it.
The fire was then taken out, and an arch formed over the hole
by means of willow-poles, and covered with several blankets
so as to make a perfect awning. The patient being stripped naked,
was seated under this on a beach, with a piece of board for
his feet, and with a jug of water sprinkled the bottom and sides
of the hole, so as to keep up as hot a steam as he could bear.
After remaining twenty minutes in this situation, he was taken out,
immediately plunged twice in cold water, and brought back to the hole,
where he resumed the vapor bath. During all this time he drank copiously
a strong infusion of horse-mint, which was used as a substitute
for seneca-root, which our informant said he had seen employed
on these occasions, but of which there is none in this country.
At the end of three-quarters of an hour he was again withdrawn
from the hole, carefully wrapped, and suffered to cool gradually.
This operation was performed yesterday; this morning he walked
about and is nearly free from pain. About eleven o'clock a canoe
arrived with three Indians, one of whom was the poor creature
who had lost the use of his limbs, and for whose recovery
the natives seem very anxious, as he is a chief of considerable
rank among them. His situation is beyond the reach of our skill.
He complains of no pain in any peculiar limb, and we therefore think
his disorder cannot be rheumatic, and his limbs would have been
more diminished if his disease had been a paralytic affection.
We had already ascribed it to his diet of roots, and had recommended
his living on fish and flesh, and using the cold bath every morning,
with a dose of cream of tartar or flowers of sulphur every third day."
It is gratifying to be able to record the fact that Bratton and the Indian
(who was treated in the same manner) actually recovered from their malady.
The journal says of the Indian that his restoration was "wonderful."
This is not too strong a word to use under the circumstances, for the chief
had been helpless for nearly three years, and yet he was able to get
about and take care of himself after he had been treated by Captain
(otherwise Doctor) Clark.
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