The Journals
of Lewis and Clark: Dates August 1, 1805 - August 2, 1805
The following
excerpts are taken from entries of the Journals of Lewis
and Clark. Dates: August 1, 1805 - August 2, 1805
August 1, 1805
Thursday, August 1. We left our encampment early, and at
the distance of a mile, reached a point of rocks on the
left side, where the river passes though perpendicular cliffs.
Two and three quarter miles further we halted for breakfast
under a cedar tree in a bend to the right: here as had been
previously arranged, Captain Lewis left us, with sergeant
Gass, Charbonneau, and Drewyer, intending to go on in advance
in search of the Shoshones. He began his route along the
north side of the river over a high range of mountains,
as captain Clarke who ascended them on the 26th had observed
from them a large valley spreading to the north of west,
and concluded that on leaving the mountain the river took
that direction; but when he reached that valley, Captain
Lewis found it to be the passage of a large creek falling
just above the mountain into the Jefferson, which bears
to the southwest. On discovering his error, he bent his
course towards that river, which he reached about two in
the afternoon, very much exhausted with heat and thirst.
The mountains were very bare of timber, and the route lay
along the steep and narrow hollows of the mountain, exposed
to the mid-day sun, without air, or shade, or water.
Just
as he arrived there a flock of elk passed, and they killed
two of them, on which they made their dinner, and left the
rest on the shore for the party in the canoes. After dinner
they resumed their march, and encamped on the north side
of the river, after making seventeen miles; in crossing
the mountains Captain Lewis saw a flock of the black or
dark brown pheasant, of which he killed one. This bird is
one third larger than the common pheasant of the Atlantic
States; its form is much the same. The male has not however
the tufts of long black feathers on the side of the neck
so conspicuous in the Atlantic pheasant, and both sexes
are booted nearly to the toes. The color is a uniform dark
brown with a small mixture of yellow or yellowish brown
specks on some of the feathers, particularly those of the
tail, though the extremities of these are perfectly black
for about an inch. The eye is nearly black, and the iris
has a small dash of yellowish brown; the feathers of the
tail are somewhat longer than those of our pheasant, but
the same in number, eighteen, and nearly equal in size,
except that those of the middle are somewhat the longest;
their flesh is white and agreeably flavored.
He also saw among the scattered pine near the top of the
mountain, a blue bird about the size of a robin, but in
action and form something like a jay; it is constantly in
motion, hopping from spray to spray, and its note which
is loud and frequent, is, as far as letters can represent
it, char ah! char ah! char ah!
After breakfast we proceeded on: at the distance of two
and a quarter miles the river enters a high mountain, which
forms rugged cliffs of nearly perpendicular rocks. These
are of a black granite at the lower part, and the upper
consists of a light colored freestone; they continue from
the point of rocks close to the river for nine miles, which
we passed before breakfast, during which the current is
very strong. At nine and a quarter miles we passed an island,
and a rapid fall with a fall of six feet, and reached the
entrance of a large creek on the left side. In passing this
place the towline of one of the canoes broke just at the
shoot of the rapids, swung on the rocks and had nearly upset.
To the creek as well as the rapid we gave the name of Frazier,
after Robert Frazier one of the party: here the country
opens into a beautiful valley from six to eight miles in
width: the river then becomes crooked and crowded with islands;
its low grounds wide and fertile, but though covered with
fine grass from nine inches to two feet high; possesses
but a small proportion of timber, and that consists almost
entirely of a few narrow-leafed cottonwood distributed along
the verge of the river. The soil of the plain is tolerably
fertile, and consists of a black or dark yellow loam. It
gradually ascends on each side to the bases of two ranges
of high mountains which lie parallel to the river; the tops
of them are yet in part covered with snow, and while in
the valley we are nearly suffocated with heat during the
day, and at night the air is so cold that two blankets are
not more than sufficient covering. In passing through the
hills we observed some large cedar trees, and some juniper
also. From Frazier's creek we went three and three quarter
miles, and encamped on the left side, having come thirteen
miles. Directly opposite our camp is a large creek which
we call Field's creek, from Reuben Fields, one of our men.
Soon after we halted two of the hunters went out and returned
with five deer, which, with one bighorn, we killed in coming
through the mountain on which we dined; and the elk left
by Captain Lewis. We were again well supplied with fresh
meat. In the course of the day we saw a brown bear but were
not able to shoot him.
August 2, 1805
Friday, August 2. Captain Lewis, who slept in the
valley a few miles above us, resumed his journey early,
and after making five miles and finding that the river still
bore to the south, determined to cross it in hopes of shortening
the route: for the first time therefore he waded across
it, although there are probably many places above the falls
where it might be attempted with equal safety. The river
was about ninety yards wide, the current rapid, and about
waist deep: the bottom formed of smooth pebble with a small
mixture of coarse gravel. He then continued along the left
bank of the river till sunset and encamped, after traveling
twenty-four miles. He met no fresh tracks of Indians. Throughout
the valley are scattered the bones and excrement of the
buffalo of an old date, but there seems no hope of meeting
the animals themselves in the mountains: he saw an abundance
of deer and antelope, and many tracks of elk and bear. Having
killed two deer they feasted sumptuously, with a desert
of currants of different colors; two species of red, others
yellow, deep purple, and black: to these were added black
gooseberries and deep purple serviceberries, somewhat larger
than ours, from which it differs also in color, size, and
the superior excellence of its flavor. In the low grounds
of the river were many beaver-dams formed of willow brush,
mud, and gravel, so closely interwoven that they resist
the water perfectly: some of them were five feet high and
overflowed several acres of land.
In the meantime we proceeded on slowly, the current being
so strong as to require the utmost exertions of the men
to make any advance even with the aid of the cord and pole,
the wind being from the northwest. The river is full of
large and small islands, and the plain cut by great numbers
of bayous or channels, in which are multitudes of beaver.
In the course of the day we passed some villages of barking
squirrels: we saw several rattlesnakes in the plain; young
ducks, both of the duckon-mallard and red-headed fishing
duck species; some geese; also the black woodpecker, and
a large herd of elk. The channel, current, banks, and general
appearance of the river, are like that of yesterday. At
fourteen and three quarter miles we reached a rapid creek
or bayou about thirty yards wide, to which we gave the name
of Birth creek. After making seventeen miles we halted in
a smooth plain in a bend towards the left.
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