Part 7 (1/2)
Later it was needful to repair the carriage and to travel over and over the portage until, after ten days of weary labor, all the equipage was above the falls
In the meantime the hunters had accu plenty The grizzly bear, however, was also present, active, aggressive, and dangerous as usual They infested the ca much alarm, and once carried off buffalo-meat from a pole within thirty yards of thein meat was boldly attacked by a bear and narrowly escaped death, being pursued to within forty paces of the ca up to attacksufficient noise to attract their rescuer, Drewyer, the interpreter and hunter, who shot hiest they had seen, being eight feet seven and a half inches long, while his fore feet measured nine inches and hind feet seven inches across, and eleven and three-quarters long exclusive of the talons Another hunter was attacked by a grizzly, fortunately near the river, so that he was able to conceal himself under a steep bank; otherwise he would probably have lost his life
The perils of navigation and the chase were not all, for a cloud-burst and hail-stor The hail was so large and driven so furiously by the high wind that it knocked down several of thesome so that they bled freely The fallen hail lay in drifts, which in places cohed three ounces and measured seven inches in circumference Clark, Chaboneau and his wife took shelter under shelving rocks in a deep ravine, congratulating themselves on their protected position Suddenly, however, the rain fell in a soliddown in a dreadful torrent, carrying rocks and everything before it
”But for Lieut Clark, Chaboneau, his wife and child would have been lost So instantly was the rise of the water, that as Lieut Clark had reached his gun and began to ascend the bank, the water was up to his waist, and he could scarce get up faster than it rose, till it reached the height of fifteen feet, with a furious current which, had they waited a er, would have swept them into the river just above the Great Falls, dohich they h the phases of their daily life brought h and hard, yet their privations were not unh theyrides after garateful views of an unknown country--barren to the eye, perhaps, but grateful to the soul, for were they not the first men of their race who ever looked upon it?--or pleasant journeys through upland forests or the undergrowth of the intervale, to search and gather whatever was beautiful to the eye, novel to the mind, or a welcome addition to their scanty larder; such were their rare pleasures
Now they waded through waist-high patches of wild rye, recalling with its fine soft beard the waving fields of grain they had left in the far East; again they pushed on in dense copses of the sinuous redwood, whose delicate inner bark furnished pleasant Indian tobacco to the Frenchh an open ith srohere beds of odorous inian home to Lehere the delicate mountain-rose, in countless thousands, was born to blush unseen; where, if only one ripened berry to-day invited the hunter, other kinds promised their welcoray of the sky dilory of a whole day, and the short su the beauty of the landscape and abating the fervid heat of mid-summer, seemed only too infrequent And above all, the pure, free, upland air, that gives vigor and health to the body, joy and lightness to the heart, al which, one drinks into the lungs the very wine of life Surelydid they feel that sweet in their memory would abide these days forever
Of the ht, and a constant source of inspiration to the eager explorers, those to the north and northere yet snow-capped, and Lewis says: ”They glisten with great beauty when the sun shi+nes on thelittering appearance have derived the na his explorations of the country around the falls Captain Lewis visited a re, near the present city of Great Falls, Montana Of it he writes:
”The fountain, which perhaps is the largest in America, is situated in a pleasant level plain, about twenty-five yards froular rocks, with a sudden descent of about six feet in one part of its course The water boils up fro the rocks with such force near the centre, that the surface seeher than the earth on the sides of the fountain, which is a handsorass”
While the e, a detach up a boat of skins, the iron fra, had been prepared for the purpose at Harper's Ferry The iron frame is to be covered with skins, and requires thin-shaved strips of wood for lining The skins necessary to cover it have already been prepared--twenty-eight elk and four buffalo skins” This experimental boat proved to be a total failure, and it was not till Lewis's long journey was nearly over that he copied the skin boat of the Indian squahich had excited his surprise, and found that the e in navigation as well as otherwise
[Illustration: Lieutenant William Clark]
As the six canoes were insufficient to carry all their men and supplies, Clark was sent ahead to find suitable wood for twono fit trees below the falls With much difficulty trees were found, and two canoes, three feet wide and twenty-five and thirty-three feet long respectively, were fashi+oned Near here a deserted Indian lodge or council house was seen It o hundred and sixteen feet in circu, converging toward the centre, where they were united and secured by large withes of sine
Although the swivel and some other articles had been cached at the head of the falls, their loads were yet very heavy, and all walked except those engaged in working the canoe The windings of the river becaress correspondingly slow and laborious
Game was less plentiful, and, as it was necessary to save the dried and concentrated food for the crossing of the mountains, it became somewhat of a task to provide food for a party of thirty-thich consumed a quantity of meat daily equal to an elk and deer, four deer or one buffalo Fortunately, the berries were now ripening, and, as they grew in great quantities, proved a not inconsiderable contribution to their food-supply Of currants there were red, purple, yellow, and black, all pleasant to the taste; the yellow being thought superior to any other known variety The purple service-berry and pinkish gooseberry were also favorites Besides, they made use of the very abundant and almost omnipresent sunflower Of it Lewis says: ”The Indians of the Missouri, reat use of the seed of this plant for bread or in thickening their soup They first parch and then pound it between two stones until it is reduced to a fine meal Sometimes they add a portion of water, and drink it thus diluted; at other tirease to reduce it to the consistency of coh and eat it in that manner
This last coht it at that tieneral a southerly course, and on July 18th they reached a bold clear stream, which was named Dearborn River for the then Secretary of War They had intended to send back a small party in canoes with despatches, but as they had not met the Snake Indians, and so were uncertain as to their friendliness, it was thought best not to weaken their already small party for hostilities Lewis decided, however, to send Clark, with three men, in advance to open up cootiate for horses Clark's journey was a failure, for the Indians, alarun, fled into the mountains
The mountains now closed in on the explorers and they caht at a place named the Gates of the Rocky Mountains ”For five and three-quarter e to the height of nearly twelve hundred feet They are coranite near the base, butwe suppose the upper part to be flint of a yellowish brown and creainedblackness of these rocks, which project over the river and threaten us with destruction For the first three miles there is not a spot, except one of a few yards, in which aperpendicular of the mountains”
On July 25th Clark, as in advance, reached the three forks of the Missouri, where he had to camp, his party worn out, their feet full of prickly pear needles and Chaboneau unable to go farther The forks were all clear pebbly streae amounts of water The southeast fork was named Gallatin, the middle Madison, and the southwest Jefferson, the latter two, of equal size, being larger branches than the Gallatin
At the three forks Sacajawea, the wife of Chaboneau, was encamped five years before, when the Minnetarees of Knife River attacked the Snakes, killed about a dozen and ely enough Chaboneau nearly lost his life crossing the Madison, where Clark saved hi indifference of the Snake woman on her return to the spot and her own country
The party followed Jefferson River, their journey being , and the overturning of a canoe, injuring one of the party, Whitehouse, losing so others, but the all-important poas so well packed that it remained dry
”Persuaded,” says the narrative, ”of the necessity of securing horses to cross the mountains, it was determined that one of us should proceed
till he found the Shoshones,who could assist us in transporting our baggage” Captain Leith three ht adown the plain toward thelass, Captain Lewis saw that he was arant horse without a saddle, and a s attached to the under jaered as a bridle Convinced that he was a Shoshonee, and knowing how much of our success depended on the friendly offices of that nation, Captain Leas full of anxiety to approach without alar him, and endeavor to convince him that he was a white man He therefore proceeded on towards the Indian at his usual pace; when they ithin a mile of each other the Indian suddenly stopped, Captain Lewis immediately followed his exa it with both hands at the four corners, threw it above his head and unfolded it as he brought it to the ground, as if in the act of spreading it This signal, which originates in the act of spreading a robe or skin as a seat for guests to whouished kindness, is the universal sign of friendshi+p a the Indians on the Missouri and Rocky Mountains” Unfortunately, the brave took alarm at the ht them to the head-waters of the Jefferson Here, ”from the foot of one of the lowest of these entle ascent for about half a mile, issues the remotest water of the Missouri They had now reached the hidden sources of that river, which had never yet been seen by civilized man; and as they quenched their thirst at the chaste and icy fountain--as they sat down by the brink of that little rivulet, which yielded its distant and modest tribute to the parent ocean, they felt themselves rewarded for all their labors and all their difficulties”
Pushi+ng on they soon saw, to the west, high, snow-topped e on which they stood for line between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans They followed a descent much steeper than that on the eastern side, and at the distance of three quarters of a mile reached a handso to the ard They stopped to taste for the first time the waters of the Columbia, and, after a few minutes, followed the road across steep hills and low hollows, till they reached a spring on the side of a mountain Here they found a sufficient quantity of drybrush for fuel, and therefore halted for the night, and, having killed nothing in the course of the day, supped on their last piece of pork, and trusted to fortune for some other food to mix with a little flour and parched meal, which was all that now reust 13, Lewis hastened impatiently forithout food, and after a few hours of travel saw three Indians; but they fled A little later he surprised three wo tho covered their heads and awaited in silence their expected death Showing the them trinkets, they were reassured and recalled their comrade, when he painted their cheeks with vermilion, a Shoshone custom emblematic of peace
The wo on, soon saw a band of sixty well- full speed toward him and his two coe Lewis laid down his rifle, and alone es, relying on the integrity and uprightness of his reatest cordiality, Lewis at once s them some blue beads and vermilion went to their cae and seated on a robe, when a fire was kindled ”The chief then produced his pipe and tobacco, the warriors pulled off their moccasins, and our party were requested to take off their own This being done, the chief lighted his pipe at the fire within the an a speech several , at the end of which he pointed the ste with the east and concluding with the north”