It Proved To Be The Largest Female They Had
Ever Seen, And Was So Old That Its Tusks Were Worn
Quite smooth.
The boats escaped with difficulty between two herds of buffalo that
were crossing the river, and came near
Being again detained by them.
Among the elk of this neighborhood they saw an unusual number of males,
while higher up the herds consisted chiefly of females."
It is almost incredible that these wild animals should have been
so nearly exterminated by hunters and other rovers of the plains,
very soon after travel set in across the continent. The writer of
these lines, who crossed the plains to California so lately as 1856,
saw buffalo killed for the sake of their tongues, or to give rifle
practice to the wayfarers. After the overland railroad was opened,
passengers shot buffalo from the car-windows, well knowing that they could
not get their game, even if they should kill as they flew by a herd.
There are no buffalo nor elk where millions once roamed almost unmolested.
Early in the afternoon of August 3, the party reached the junction
of the Yellowstone and the Missouri, and camped on the same spot
where they had pitched their tents on the 26th of April, 1805.
They were nearing the end of their long journey.
But their troubles thickened as they drew near the close of their many miles
of travel. The journal for August 4 has this record: -
"The camp became absolutely uninhabitable in consequence of the multitude
of mosquitoes; the men could not work in preparing skins for clothing,
nor hunt in the timbered low grounds; there was no mode of escape,
except by going on the sand-bars in the river, where, if the wind
should blow, the insects do not venture; but when there is no wind,
and particularly at night, when the men have no covering except their
worn-out blankets, the pain they suffer is scarcely to be endured.
There was also a want of meat, for no buffalo were to be found;
and though elk are very abundant, yet their fat and flesh is more
difficult to dry in the sun, and is also much more easily spoiled
than the meat or fat of either deer or buffalo.
"Captain Clark therefore determined to go on to some spot which should
be free from mosquitoes and furnish more game. Having written a note to
Captain Lewis, to inform him of his intention, and stuck it on a pole at the
confluence of the two rivers, he loaded the canoes at five in the afternoon,
proceeded down the river to the second point, and camped on a sand-bar;
but here the mosquitoes seemed to be even more numerous than above.
The face of the Indian child was considerably puffed up and swollen with
their bites; the men could procure scarcely any sleep during the night,
and the insects continued to harass them next morning, as they proceeded.
On one occasion Captain Clark went on shore and ascended a hill after one
of the bighorns; but the mosquitoes were in such multitudes that he could
not keep them from the barrel of his rifle long enough to take aim.
About ten o'clock, however, a light breeze sprung up from the northwest,
and dispersed them in some degree. Captain Clark then landed on a
sand-bar, intending to wait for Captain Lewis, and went out to hunt.
But not finding any buffalo, he again proceeded in the afternoon;
and having killed a large white bear, camped under a high bluff exposed
to a light breeze from the southwest, which blew away the mosquitoes.
About eleven o'clock, however, the wind became very high and a storm
of rain came on, which lasted for two hours, accompanied with sharp
lightning and loud peals of thunder.
"The party rose, next day, very wet, and proceeded to a sand-bar below
the entrance of Whiteearth River. Just above this place the Indians,
apparently within seven, or eight days past, had been digging
a root which they employ in making a kind of soup. Having fixed
their tents, the men were employed in dressing skins and hunting.
They shot a number of deer; but only two of them were fat,
owing probably to the great quantities of mosquitoes which annoy
them while feeding."
On the eleventh of August the Clark party came up with the two
white traders from Illinois, of whom we have already made mention
as having been met by the Lewis party on their way down the river.
These were the first white men they had seen (except themselves)
since they parted with the three French trappers, near the Little Missouri,
in April, 1805, From them the wayworn voyagers received the latest news
from the United States. From them they also had some unfavorable tidings.
The journal says: -
"These men had met the boat which we had despatched from Fort Mandan, on board
of which, they were told, was a Ricara chief on his way to Washington;
and also another party of Yankton chiefs, accompanying Mr. Durion
on a visit of the same kind. We were sorry to learn that the Mandans
and Minnetarees were at war with the Ricaras, and had killed two of them.
The Assiniboins too are at war with the Mandans. They have, in consequence,
prohibited the Northwestern Company from trading to the Missouri, and even
killed two of their traders near Mouse River; they are now lying in wait
for Mr. McKenzie of the Northwestern Company, who has been for a long time
among the Minnetarees. These appearances are rather unfavorable to our
project of carrying some of the chiefs to the United States; but we still
hope that, by effecting a peace between the Mandans, Minnetarees, and Ricaras,
the views of our Government may be accomplished."
Next day, August 12, 1806, the party, slowly descending the river, were
overjoyed to see below them the little flotilla of Captain Lewis and his men.
But they were alarmed when they discovered that Lewis was not with them;
as the boats landed at the shore, the captain was not to be seen.
Captain Clark's party, on coming up with their friends, were told
that Lewis was lying in the pirogue, having been accidentally wounded.
The whole party were now happily reunited, and they were soon joined by
the two Illinois traders whom they had met up the river; these men wished
to accompany the expedition down the river as far as the Mandan nation,
for the purpose of trading; they were more secure with a large party
of white men than they would be if left to themselves.
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