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The Journals
of Lewis and Clark: Dates January 9, 1806 - January 13,
1806
The following
excerpts are taken from entries of the Journals of Lewis
and Clark. Dates: January 9, 1806 - January 13, 1806
January 9, 1806
Thursday, 9. The morning was fine, the wind from the northeast;
and having divided our stock of the blubber, we began at
sunrise to retread our steps, in order to reach fort Clatsop,
at the distance of thirty-five miles. We met several parties
of Indians on their way to trade for blubber and oil with
the Killamucks; (our route lay across the same mountains
which we had already passed) we also overtook a party returning
from the village, and could not but regard with astonishment
the heavy loads which the women carry over these fatiguing
and dangerous paths. As one of the women was descending
a steep part of the mountain, her load slipped from her
back, and she stood holding it by a strap with one hand,
and with the other supporting herself by a bush: captain
Clarke being near her, undertook to replace the load, and
found it almost as much as he could lift, and above one
hundred pounds in weight. Loaded as they were, they kept
pace with us, till we reached the saltmakers' tents, where
we passed the night, while they continued their route.
January 10, 1806
Friday, 10. We proceeded across Clatsop river, to
the place where we had left our canoes; and as the tide
was coming in, immediately embarked for the fort, at which
place we arrived about ten o'clock at night. During their
absence, the men had been occupied in hunting and dressing
skins, but in this they were not very successful, as the
deer have become scarce, and are, indeed, seen chiefly near
the prairies and open grounds, along the coast. This morning,
however, there came to the fort twelve Indians, in a large
canoe. They are of the Cathlamah nation, our nearest neighbors
above, on the south side of the river. The tia, or chief,
whose name was Shahawacap, having been absent on a hunting
excursion, as we passed his village, had never yet seen
us, and we therefore showed him the honors of our country,
as well as our reduced finances would permit. We invested
him with a small medal, and received a present of Indian
tobacco and a basket of wappatoo in return, for which we
gave him a small piece of our tobacco, and thread for a
fishing net. They had brought dried salmon, wappatoo, dogs,
and mats made of rushes and flags: but we bought only some
dogs and wappatoo. These Cathlamahs speak the same language
as the Chinnooks and Clatsops, whom they also resemble in
dress and manners.
January 11, 1806
Saturday, 11. A party was sent out to bring in some
elk killed yesterday, and several were dispatched after
our Indian canoe, which drifted away last night; but, though
the whole neighborhood was diligently searched, we were
unable to find it. This is a serious loss, as she is much
superior to our own canoes, and so light that four men can
carry her readily without fatigue, though she will carry
from ten to twelve hundred pounds, besides a crew of four.
In the evening the Cathlamahs left us, on their way to barter
their wappatoo with the Clatsops, for some blubber and oil,
which these last have procured from the Killamucks, in exchange
for beads and other articles.
January 12, 1806
Sunday, 12. Our meat is now becoming scarce; we,
therefore, determined to jerk it, and issue it in small
quantities, instead of dividing it among the four messes,
and leaving to each the care of its own provisions; a plan
by which much is lost, in consequence of the improvidence
of the men. Two hunters had been dispatched in the morning,
and one of them, Drewyer, had before evening, killed seven
elk. We should scarcely be able to subsist, were it not
for the exertions of this most excellent hunter. The game
is scarce, and nothing is now to be seen, except elk, which
to almost all the men, are very difficult to be procured:
but Drewyer, who is the offspring of a Canadian Frenchman,
and an Indian woman, has passed his life in the woods, and
unites, in a wonderful degree, the dextrous aim of the frontier
huntsman, with the intuitive sagacity of the Indian, in
pursuing the faintest tracks through the forest. All our
men, however, have indeed, become so expert with the rifle,
that we are never under apprehensions as to food, since,
whenever there is game of any kind, we are almost certain
of procuring it.
January 13, 1806
Monday, 13. Captain Lewis took all the men who could
be spared, and brought in the seven elk, which they had
found untouched by the wolves, of which there are a few
in the neighborhood. The last of the candles which we brought
with us being exhausted, we now began to make others of
elk tallow. From all that we have seen and learnt of the
Chinnooks, we have been induced to estimate the nation at
about twenty-eight houses, and four hundred souls. They
reside chiefly along the banks of a river, to which we gave
the same name; and which, running parallel to the seacoast,
waters a low country with many stagnant ponds, and then
empties itself into Haley's bay. The wild fowl of these
ponds, and the elk and deer of the neighborhood, furnish
them with occasional luxuries; but their chief subsistence
is derived from the salmon and other fish, which are caught
in the small streams, by means of nets and gigs, or thrown
on shore by the violence of the tide. To these are added
some roots, such as the wild liquorice, which is the most
common, the shanataque, and the wappatoo, brought down the
river by the traders.
The men are low in stature, rather ugly, and ill made; their
legs being small and crooked, their feet large, and their
heads, like those of the women, flattened in a most disgusting
manner. These deformities are in part concealed by robes
made of sea-otter, deer, elk, beaver, or fox skins. They
also employ in their dress, robes of the skin of a cat peculiar
to this country, and of another animal of the same size,
which is light and durable, and sold at a high price by
the Indians, who bring it from above. In addition to these
are worn blankets, wrappers of red, blue, or spotted cloth,
and some old sailors' clothes, which were very highly prized.
The greater part of the men have guns, powder, and ball.
The women have, in general, handsome faces, but are low
and disproportioned, with small feet and large legs and
thighs, occasioned, probably, by strands of beads, or various
strings, drawn so tight above the ankles, as to prevent
the circulation of the blood. Their dress, like that of
the Wahkiacums, consists of a short robe, and a tissue of
cedar bark. Their hair hangs loosely down the shoulders
and back; and their ears, neck, and wrists are ornamented
with blue beads. Another decoration which is very highly
prized, consists of figures made by puncturing the arms
or legs; and on the arm of one of the squaws, we observed
the name of J. Bowman, executed in the same way. In language,
habits, and in almost every other particular, they resemble
the Clatsops, Cathlamahs, and indeed all the people near
the mouth of the Columbia. They, however, seem to be inferior
to their neighbors in honesty as well as spirit. No ill
treatment or indignity, on our part, seems to excite any
feeling, except fear; nor, although better provided than
their neighbors with arms, have they enterprise enough to
use them advantageously against the animals of the forest,
nor offensively against their neighbors; who owe their safety
more to the timidity than the forbearance of the Chinnooks.
We had heard instances of pilfering whilst we were amongst
them, and therefore had a general order, excluding them
from our encampment; so that whenever an Indian wished to
visit us, he began by calling out "No Chinnook."It may be
probable that this first impression left a prejudice against
them, since when we were among the Clatsops, and other tribes
at the mouth of the Columbia, the Indians had less opportunity
of stealing, if they were so disposed.
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