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The Journals
of Lewis and Clark: Dates October 28, 1805 - October 31,
1805
The following
excerpts are taken from entries of the Journals of Lewis
and Clark. Dates: October 28, 1805 - October 31, 1805.
October 28,
1805
Monday 28. The morning was again cool and windy. Having
dried our goods, we were about setting out, when three canoes
came from above to visit us, and at the same time two others
from below arrived for the same purpose. Among these last
was an Indian who wore his hair in a queue, and had on a
round hat and a sailor's jacket, which he said he had obtained
from the people below the great rapids, who bought them
from the whites. This interview detained us till nine o'clock,
when we proceeded down the river, which is now bordered
with cliffs of loose dark colored rocks about ninety feet
high, with a thin covering of pine and other small trees.
At the distance of four miles we reached a small village
of eight houses under some high rocks on the right, with
a small creek on the opposite side of the river. We landed
and found the houses similar to those we had seen at the
great narrows: on entering one of them we saw a British
musket, a eutlass, and several brass teakettles, of which
they seemed to be very fond. There were figures of men,
birds, and different animals, which were cut and painted
on the boards which form the sides of the room, and though
the workmanship of these uncouth figures was very rough,
they were as highly esteemed by the Indians as the finest
frescoes of more civilized people. This tribe is called
the Chilluckittequaw, and their language although somewhat
different from that of the Echeloots, has many of the same
words, and is sufficiently intelligible tothe neighboring
Indians.
We
procured from them a vocabulary, and then after buying five
small dogs, some dried berries, and a white bread or cake
made of roots, we left them. The wind however rose so high,
that we were obliged after going one mile to land on the
left side opposite to a rocky island, and pass the day there.
We formed our camp in a niche above a point of high rocks,
and as it was the only safe harbor we could find, submitted
to the inconvenience of lying on the sand, exposed to the
wind and rain during all the evening. The high wind, which
obliged us to consult the safety of our boats by not venturing
further, did not at all prevent the Indians from navigating
the river. We had not been long on shore, before a canoe
with a man, his wife and two children, came from below through
the high waves with a few roots to sell; and soon after
we were visited by many Indians from the village above,
with whom we smoked and conversed. The canoes used by these
people are like those already described, built of white
cedar or pine, very light, wide in the middle, and tapering
towards the ends, the bow being raised and ornamented with
carvings of the heads of animals. As the canoe is the vehicle
of transportation, the Indians have acquired great dexterity
in the management of it, and guide it safely over the highest
waves. They have among their utensils bowls and baskets
very neatly made of small bark and grass, in which they
boil their provisions. The only game seen to-day were two
deer, of which only one was killed, the other was wounded
but escaped.
October
29, 1805
Tuesday 29. The
morning was still cloudy, and the wind from the west, but
as it had abated its violence, we set out at daylight. At
the distance of four miles we passed a creek on the right,
one mile below which is a village of seven houses on the
same side. This is the residence of the principal chief
of the Chilluckittequaw nation, whom we now found to be
the same between whom and our two chiefs we had made a peace
at the Echeloot village. He received us very kindly, and
set before us pounded fish, filberts, nuts, the berries
of the Sacacommis, and white bread made of roots. We gave
in return a bracelet of riband to each of the women of the
house, with which they were very much pleased.
The
chief had several articles, such as scarlet and blue cloth,
a sword, a jacket and hat, which must have been procured
from the whites, and on one side of the room were two wide
split boards placed together, so as to make space for a
rude figure of a man cut and painted on them. On pointing
to this and asking them what it meant, he said something,
of which all we understood was "good," and then stepped
to the image and brought out his bow and quiver, which,
with some other warlike instruments, were kept behind it.
The chief then directed his wife to hand him his medicine-bag,
from which he brought out fourteen fore-fingers, which he
told us had once belonged to the same number of his enemies,
whom he had killed in fighting with the nations to the southeast,
to which place he pointed, alluding no doubt to the Snake
Indians, the common enemy of the nations on the Columbia.
This bag is about two feet in length, containing roots,
pounded dirt, &c. which the Indians only know how to appreciate.
It is suspended in the middle of the lodge, and it is supposed
to be a species of sacrilege to be touched by any but the
owner. It is an object of religious fear, and it is from
its sanctity the safest place to deposit their medals and
their more valuable articles. The Indians have likewise
small bags which they preserve in their great medicine-bag,
from whence they are taken and worn around their waists
and necks as amulets against any real or imaginary evils.
This was the first time we had ever known the Indians to
carry from the field any other trophy except the scalp.
They were shown with great exultation, and after an harangue
which we were left to presume was in praise of his exploits,
the fingers were carefully replaced among the valuable contents
of the red medicine-bag. This village being part of the
same nation with the village we passed above, the language
of the two is the same, and their houses of similar form
and materials, and calculated to contain about thirty souls.
The inhabitants were unusually hospitable and good-humored,
so that we gave to the place the name of the Friendly village.
We breakfasted here, and after purchasing twelve dogs, four
sacks of fish, and a few dried berries, proceeded on our
journey. The hills as we passed are high with steep and
rocky sides, and some pine and white oak, and an undergrowth
of shrubs scattered over them. Four miles below this village
is a small river on the right side; immediately below is
a village of Chilluckittequaws, consisting of eleven houses.
Here we landed and smoked a pipe with the inhabitants, who
were very cheerful and friendly.
They
as well as the people of the last village inform us, that
this river comes a considerable distance from the N.N.E.
that it has a great number of falls, which prevent the salmon
from passing up, and that there are ten nations residing
on it who subsist on berries, or such game as they can procure
with their bows and arrows. At its mouth the river is sixty
yards wide, and has a deep and very rapid channel. From
the number of falls of which the Indians spoke, we gave
it the name of Cataract river. We purchased four dogs, and
then proceeded. The country as we advance is more rocky
and broken, and the pine and low whiteoak on the hills increase
in great quantity. Three miles below Cataract river we passed
three large rocks in the river; that in the middle is large
and longer than the rest, and from the circumstance of its
having several square vaults on it, obtained the name of
Sepulchre island. A short distance beloware two huts of
Indians on the right: the river now widens, and in three
miles we came to two more houses on the right; one mile
beyond which is a rocky island in a bend of the river towards
the left. Within the next six miles we passed fourteen huts
of Indians, scattered on the right bank, and then reached
the entrance of a river on the left, which we called Labieshe's
river, after Labieshe one of our party. Just above this
river is a low ground more thickly timbered than usual,
and in front are four huts of Indians on the bank, which
are the first we have seen on that side of the Columbia.
The exception may be occasioned by this spot's being more
than usually protected from the approach of their enemies,
by the creek, and the thick wood behind.
We again embarked, and at the distance of a mile passed
the mouth of a rapid creek on the right eighteen yards wide:
in this creek the Indians whom we left take their fish,
and from the number of canoes which were in it, we called
it Canoe creek. Opposite to this creek is a large sandbar,
which continues for four miles along the left side of the
river. Just below this a beautiful cascade falls in on the
left over a ? of rock one hundred feet in height. One mile
further are four Indian huts in the low ground on the left:
and two miles beyond this a point of land on the right,
where the mountains become high on both sides, and possess
more timber and greater varieties of it than hitherto, and
those on the left are covered with snow. One mile from this
point we halted for the night at three Indian huts on the
right, having made thirty-two miles. On our first arrival
they seemed surprised, but not alarmed at our appearance,
and we soon became intimate by means of smoking and our
favorite entertainment for the Indians, the violin. They
gave us fruit, some roots, and root-bread, and we purchased
from them three dogs. The houses of these people are similar
to those of the Indians above, and their language the same:
their dress also, consisting of robes or skins of wolves,
deer, elk, and wild-cat, is made nearly after the same model:
their hair is worn in plaits down each shoulder, and round
their neck is put a strip of some skin with the tail of
the animal hanging down over the breast: like the Indians
above they are fond of otter skins, and give a great price
for them. We here saw the skin of a mountain sheep, which
they say live among the rocks in the mountains: the skin
was covered with white hair, the wool long, thick, and coarse,
with long coarse hair on the top of the neck, and the back
resembling somewhat the bristles of a goat. Immediately
behind the village is a pond, in which were great numbers
of small swan.
October
30, 1805
Wednesday, 30.
A moderate rain fell during all last night, but the morning
was cool, and after taking a scanty breakfast of deer, we
proceeded. The river is now about three quarters of a mile
wide, with a current so gentle, that it does not exceed
one mile and a half an hour; but its course is obstructed
by the projection of large rocks, which seemed to have fallen
promiscuously from the mountains into the bed of the river.
On the left side four different streams of water empty themselves
in cascades from the hills: what is, however, most singular
is, that there are stumps of pine trees scattered to some
distance in the river, which has the appearance of being
dammed below and forced to encroach on the shore: these
obstructions continue till at the distance of twelve miles,
when we came to the mouth of a river on the right, where
we landed: we found it sixty yards wide, and its banks possess
two kinds of timber which we had not hitherto seen: one
is a very large species of ash; the other resembling in
its bark the beach; but the tree itself, as also the leaves,
are smaller. We called this stream Crusatte's river, after
Crusatte, one of our men: opposite to its mouth the Columbia
widens to the distance of a mile, with a large sandbar,
and large stones and rocks scattered through the channel.
We
here saw several of the large buzzards, which are of the
size of the largest eagle, with the under part of their
wings white: we also shot a deer and three ducks; on part
of which we dined, and then continued down the Columbia.
Above Crusatte's river the low grounds are about three quarters
of a mile wide, rising gradually to the hills, and with
a rich soil covered with grass, fern, and other small undergrowth;
but below, the country rises with a steep ascent, and soon
the mountains approach to the river with steep rugged sides,
covered with a very thick growth of pine, cedar, cottonwood,
and oak. The river is still strewed with large rocks. Two
and a half miles below Crusatte's river is a large creek
on the right, with a small island in the mouth. Just below
this creek we passed along the right side of three small
islands on the right bank of the river, with a larger island
on the opposite side, and landed on an island very near
the right shore at the head of the great shoot, and opposite
two smaller islands at the fall or shoot itself. Just above
the island on which we were encamped is a small village
of eight large houses in a bend on the right, where the
country, from having been very mountainous, becomes low
for a short distance. We had made fifteen miles to-day,
during all which time we were kept constantly wet with the
rain; but as we were able to get on this island some of
the ash which we saw for the first time to-day, and which
makes a tolerable fire, we were as comfortable as the moistness
of the evening would permit.
As
soon as we landed, Captain Lewis went with five men to the
village, which is situated near the river, with ponds in
the low grounds behind: the greater part of the inhabitants
were absent collecting roots down the river: the few, however,
who were at home, treated him very kindly, and gave him
berries, nuts, and fish; and in the house were a gun and
several articles which must have been procured from the
whites; but not being able to procure any information, he
returned to the island. Captain Clarke had in the meantime
gone down to examine the shoot, and to discover the best
route for a portage. He followed an Indian path, which,
at the distance of a mile, led to a village on an elevated
situation, the houses of which had been large, but built
in a different form from any we had yet seen, but which
had been lately abandoned, the greater part of the boards
being put into a pond near the village: this was most probably
for the purpose of drowning the fleas, which were in immense
quantities near the houses. After going about three miles
the night obliged him to return to camp
October
31, 1805
Thursday, 31st.
He resumed his search in the morning, Thursday, 31st, through
the rain. At the extremity of the basin, in which is situated
the island where we are encamped, several rocks and rocky
islands are interspersed through the bed of the river. The
rocks on each side have fallen down from the mountains;
that on the left being high, and on the right the hill itself,
which is lower, slipping into the river; so that the current
is here compressed within a space of one hundred and fifty
yards. Within this narrow limit it runs for the distance
of four hundred yards with great rapidity, swelling over
the rocks with a fall of about twenty feet: it then widens
to two hundred paces, and the current for a short distance
becomes gentle; but at the distance of a mile and a half,
and opposite to the old village mentioned yesterday, it
is obstructed by a very bad rapid, where the waves are unusually
high, the river being confined between large rocks, many
of which are at the surface of the water.
Captain
Clarke proceeded along the same path he had taken before,
which led him through a thick wood and along a hill side,
till two and a half miles below the shoots, he struck the
river at the place whence the Indians make their portage
to the head of the shoot: he here sent Crusatte, the principal
waterman, up the stream, to examine if it were practicable
to bring the canoes down the water. In the meantime, he,
with Joseph Fields, continued his route down the river,
along which the rapids seem to stretch as far as he could
see. At half a mile below the end of the portage, he came
to a house, the only remnant of a town, which, from its
appearance, must have been of great antiquity. The house
was uninhabited, and being old and decayed, he felt no disposition
to encounter the fleas, which abound in every situation
of that kind, and therefore did not enter. About half a
mile below this house, in a very thick part of the woods,
is an ancient burial place: it consists of eight vaults
made of pine or cedar boards closely connected, about eight
feet square and six in height; the top secured, covered
with wide boards sloping a little, so as to convey off the
rain: the direction of all of them is east and west, the
door being on the eastern side, and partially stopped with
wide boards decorated with rude pictures of men and other
animals. On entering we found in some of them four dead
bodies, carefully wrapped in skins, tied with cords of grass
and bark, lying on a mat in a direction east and west: the
other vaults contained only bones, which were in some of
them piled to the height of four feet: on the tops of the
vaults, and on poles attached to them, hung brass kettles
and frying-pans with holes in their bottoms, baskets, bowls,
sea-shells, skins, pieces of cloth, hair, bags of trinkets
and small bones, the offerings of friendship or affection,
which have been saved by a pious veneration from the ferocity
of war, or the more dangerous temptations of individual
gain: the whole of the walls as well as the door were decorated
with strange figures cut and painted on them; and besides
these were several wooden images of men, some of them so
old and decayed as to have almost lost their shape, which
were all placed against the sides of the vaults.
These
images, as well as those in the houses we have lately seen,
do not appear to be at all the objects of adoration: in
this place they were most probably intended as resemblances
of those whose decease they indicate; and when we observe
them in houses, they occupy the most conspicuous part; but
are treated more like ornaments than objects of worship.
Near the vaults which are standing, are the remains of others
on the ground completely rotted and covered with moss; and
as they are formed of the most durable pine and cedar timber,
there is every appearance, that for a very long series of
years this retired spot has been the depository for the
Indians near this place. After examining this place captain
Clarke went on, and found the river as before strewed with
large rocks, against which the water ran with great rapidity.
Just below the vaults the mountain, which is but low on
the right side, leaves the river, and is succeeded by an
open stony level, which extends down the river, while on
the left the mountain is still high and rugged.
At
two miles distance he came to a village of four houses,
which were now vacant and the doors barred up: on looking
in he saw the usual quantity of utensils still remaining,
from which he concluded that the inhabitants were at no
great distance collecting roots or hunting, in order to
lay in their supply of food for the winter: he left them
and went on three miles to a difficult rocky rapid, which
was the last in view. Here, on the right, are the remains
of a large and ancient village, which could be plainly traced
by the holes for the houses and the deposits for fish: after
he had examined these rapids and the neighboring country
he returned to camp by the same route: the only game he
had obtained was a sandhill crane. In the meantime we had
been occupied in preparations for making the portage, and
in conference with the Indians, who came down from the village
to visit us. Towards evening two canoes arrived from the
village at the mouth of Cataract river, loaded with fish
and bears' grease for the market below: as soon as they
landed they unloaded the canoes, turned them upside down
on the beach, and encamped under a shelving rock near our
camp. We had an opportunity of seeing to-day the hardihood
of the Indians of the neighboring village: one of the men
shot a goose, which fell into the river, and was floating
rapidly towards the great shoot, when an Indian observing
it plunged in after it? the whole mass of the waters of
the Columbia, just preparing to descend its narrow channel,
carried the animal down with great rapidity: the Indian
followed it fearlessly to within one hundred and fifty feet
of the rocks, where he would inevitably have been dashed
to pieces; but seizing his prey he turned round and swam
ashore with great composure. We very willingly relinquished
our right to the bird in favor of the Indian who had thus
saved it at the imminent hazard of his life: he immediately
set to work and picked off about half the feathers, and
then without opening it ran a stick through it and carried
it off to roast.
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