The Journals
of Lewis and Clark: Dates January 19, 1806 - January 21,
1806
The following
excerpts are taken from entries of the Journals of Lewis
and Clark. Dates: January 19, 1806 - January 21, 1806
January 19,
1806
Sunday 19. This morning we sent out two parties of hunters
in different directions. Soon after we were visited by two
Clatsop men and a woman, who brought several articles to
trade: we purchased a small quantity of train oil for a
pair of brass armbands, and succeeded in obtaining a sea-otter
skin, for which we gave our only remaining four fathoms
of blue beads, the same quantity of white ones, and a knife;
we gave a fish-hook also in exchange for one of their hats.
These are made of cedar bark and bear-grass, interwoven
together in the form of an European hat, with a small brim
of about two inches, and a high crown, widening upwards.
They are light, ornamented with various colors and figures,
and being nearly water-proof, are much more durable than
either chip or straw hats. These hats form a small article
of traffic with the whites, and the manufacture is one of
the best exertions of Indian industry. They are, however,
very dexterous in making a variety of domestic utensils,
among which are bowls, spoons, scewers, spits, and baskets.
The bowl or trough is of different shapes, sometimes round,
semi-circular, in the form of a canoe, or cubic, and generally
dug out of a single piece of wood, the larger vessels having
holes in the sides by way of handle, and all executed with
great neatness. In these vessels they boil their food, by
throwing hot stones into the water, and extract oil from
different animals in the same way. Spoons are not very abundant,
nor is there anything remarkable in their shape, except
that they are large and the bowl broad.
Meat
is roasted on one end of a sharp scewer, placed erect before
the fire, with the other fixed in the ground. The spit for
fish is split at the top into two parts, between which the
fish is placed, cut open, with its sides extended by means
of small splinters. The usual plate is a small mat of rushes
or flags, on which every thing is served. The instrument
with which they dig up roots, is a strong stick, about three
feet and a half long, sharpened and a little curved at the
lower end, while the upper is inserted into a handle, standing
transversely, and made of part of an elk or buck's horn.
But the most curious workmanship is that of the basket.
It is formed of cedar bark and bear-grass, so closely interwoven,
that it is water tight, without the aid of either gum or
resin. The form is generally conic, or rather the segment
of a cone, of which the smaller end is the bottom of the
basket; and being made of all sizes, from that of the smallest
cup to the capacity of five or six gallons, answer the double
purpose of a covering for the head or to contain water.
Some of them are highly ornamented with strands of bear-grass,
woven into figures of various colors, which require great
labor; yet they are made very expeditiously and sold for
a trifle. It is for the construction of these baskets, that
the bear-grass forms an article of considerable traffic.
It grows only near the snowy region of the high mountains,
and the blade, which is two feet long and about three-eighths
of an inch wide, is smooth, strong and pliant; the young
blades particularly, from their not being exposed to the
sun and air, have an appearance of great neatness, and are
generally preferred. Other bags and baskets, not water-proof,
are made of cedar bark, silk-grass, rushes, flags, and common
coarse sedge, for the use offamilies. In the manufactures,
as well as in the ordinary work of the house, the instrument
most in use is a knife, or rather a dagger. The handle of
it is small, and has a strong loop of twine for the thumb,
to prevent its being wrested from the hand. On each side
is a blade, double-edged and pointed; the longer from nine
to ten inches, the shorter from four to five. This knife
is carried about habitually in the hand, sometimes exposed,
but mostly when in company with strangers, put under the
robe.
January
20, 1806
Monday, 20. We
were visited by three Clatsops, who came merely for the
purpose of smoking and conversing with us. We have now only
three days' provision, yet so accustomed have the men become
to live sparingly, and fast occasionally, that such a circumstance
excites no concern, as we all calculate on our dexterity
as hunters. The industry of the Indians is not confined
to household utensils: the great proof of their skill is
the construction of their canoes. In a country, indeed,
where so much of the intercourse between different tribes
is carried on by water, the ingenuity of the people would
naturally direct itself to the improvement of canoes, which
would gradually become, from a mere safe conveyance, to
an elegant ornament. We have accordingly seen, on the Columbia,
canoes of many forms, beginning with the simple boats near
the mountains, to those more highly decorated, because more
useful nearer the mouth of the Columbia. Below the grand
cataract there are four forms of canoes: the first and smallest
is about fifteen feet long, and calculated for one or two
persons: it is, indeed, by no means remarkable in its structure,
and is chiefly employed by the Cathlamahs and Wahkiacums
among the marshy islands. The second is from twenty to thirty-five
feet long, and about two and a half or three feet in the
beam, and two feet in the hold. It is chiefly remarkable
in having the bowsprit, which rises to some height above
the bow, formed by tapering gradually from the sides into
a sharp point. Canoes of this shape are common to all the
nations below the grand rapids.
But the canoes most used by the Columbia Indians, from the
Chilluckittequaws inclusive, to the ocean, are about thirty
or thirty-five feet long. The bow, which looks more like
the stern of our boats, is higher than the other end, and
is ornamented with a sort of comb, an inch in thickness,
cut out of the same log which forms the canoe, and extending
nine or eleven inches from the bowsprit to the bottom of
the boat. The stern is nearly rounded off, and gradually
ascends to a point. This canoe is very light and convenient;
for though it will contain ten or twelve persons, it may
be carried with great ease by four.
The fourth and largest species of canoe we did not meet
till we reached tide-water, near the grand rapids below,
in which place they are found among all the nations, especially
the Killamucks, and others residing on the seacoast. They
are upwards of fifty feet long, and will carry from eight
to ten thousand pounds weight, or from twenty to thirty
persons. Like all the canoes we have mentioned, they are
cut out of a single trunk of a tree, which is generally
white cedar, though the fir is sometimes used. The sides
are secured by cross-bars, or round sticks, two or three
inches in thickness, which are inserted through holes made
just below the gunwale, and made fast with cords. The upper
edge of the gunwale itself is about five eighths of an inch
thick, and four or five in breadth, and folds outwards,
so as to form a kind of rim, which prevents the water from
beating into the boat. The bow and stern are about the same
height, and each provided with a comb, reaching to the bottom
of the boat. At each end, also, are pedestals, formed of
the same solid piece, on which are placed strange grotesque
figures of men or animals, rising sometimes to the height
of five feet, and composed of small pieces of wood, firmly
united, with great ingenuity, by inlaying and mortising,
without a spike of any kind. The paddle is usually from
four feet and a half to five feet in length; the handle
being thick for one third of its length, when it widens,
and is hollowed and thinned on each side ofthe centre, which
forms a sort of rib.
When
they embark, one Indian sits in the stern, and steers with
a paddle, the others kneel in pairs in the bottom of the
canoe, and sitting on their heels, paddle over the gunwale
next to them. In this way they ride with perfect safety
the highest waves, and venture without the least concern
in seas, where other boats or seamen could not live an instant.
They sit quietly and paddle, with no other movement; except,
when any large wave throws the boat on her side, and, to
the eye of a spectator, she seems lost: the man to windward
then steadies her by throwing his body towards the upper
side, and sinking his paddle deep into the wave, appears
to catch the water and force it under the boat, which the
same stroke pushes on with great velocity. In the management
of these canoes the women are equally expert with the men;
for in the smaller boats, which contain four oarsmen, the
helm is generally given to the female. As soon as they land,
the canoe is generally hauled on shore, unless she be very
heavily laden; but at night the load is universally discharged,
and the canoe brought on shore.
Our admiration of their skill in these curious constructions
was increased by observing the very inadequate implements
with which they are made. These Indians possess very few
axes, and the only tool employed in their building, from
felling of the tree to the delicate workmanship of the images,
is a chisel made of an old file, about an inch or an inch
and a half in width. Even of this too, they have not yet
learnt the management, for the chisel is sometimes fixed
in a large block of wood, and being held in the right hand,
the block is pushed with the left without the aid of a mallet.
But under all these disadvantages, these canoes, which one
would suppose to be the work of years, are made in a few
weeks. A canoe, however, is very highly prized: in traffic,
it is an article of the greatest value, except a wife, which
is of equal consideration; so that a lover generally gives
a canoe to the father in exchange for his daughter.
January 21,
1806
Tuesday, 21. Two
of the hunters came back with three elk, which form a timely
addition to our stock of provisions. The Indian visiters
left us at twelve o'clock.
Note:
The journal entries continue with a accounts of the
Clatsop Native Indians
Accounts of the
Animals
Accounts of the
Plants
The
month of February and the greater part of March were passed
in the same manner - continue the journals with:
Lewis and Clark Journals -February and March 1806
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